Investing in Traditional Forms of Wagering
Sources from the industry that had no approval to speak publicly on the transactions Tehrani and Craven were making said the two owners were intensively increasing their stake in the ASX-listed sportsbook and currently owned about 4.2 per cent of the company’s shares. The pair made the transactions through another business they own – EasyGo Gaming.
It is still not known whether the two partners planned to increase that 4.2 percent stake further, but it is definitely clear that they are seriously engaged in diversifying their operations so that they invest more in traditional forms of sports betting and gambling.
A Failed Northern Territory Racing Commission Licence Bid
Despite operating out of Melbourne, Stake.com is licensed and registered by the Government of Curacao and it allows customers to wager using crypto payment methods.
The company tried to obtain an Australian wagering concession too. Craven and Tehrani were planning to apply for a Northern Territory Racing Commission licence and registered a local company called Stake Gaming in order to obtain that concession.
However, a share trading platform that was also called Stake Gaming filed a complaint with the Federal Court and rendered those plans of a Northern Territory licence unsuccessful.
PointsBet to Focus on the Australian Market
Founded in 2017, Stake quickly became one of the largest online wagering operators in the world. The crypto wagering platform signed superstar Drake as a brand ambassador while also striking partnerships with Everton FC and Formula 1 team Alfa Romeo.
PointsBet, on the other hand, tried to build a presence in the US, but has given up on those plans and sold its US business to Fanatics for $343.2 million. The betting company announced that it would focus on the Australian and Canadian markets, with PointsBet CEO Sam Swanell telling shareholders that the bookmaker will be profitable by July 2024.
The PointsBet chief said that the company intended to grow its Australian online share from the “solid 5 percent position” and that Australian operations were “strategically important.”
