Betr was expected to take the Western Australia TAB license but Australia’s newest bookie backed out of the bid at the last minute. The reasons are yet unknown, but sources say that betr wasn’t happy with the branding arrangements of the deal.
According to reports, the $1 billion WA TAB license is now Tabcorp’s to lose. Tabcorp and Entain both made bids for Western Australia’s TAB business, but their offers were lower than betr’s.
However, the state-owned gaming and betting operator will have no choice but to settle for an offer that is inferior to betr’s, as the News Corp-backed bookie is now definitely out of the race.
Got the Green Light But Backed Out at the Last Minute
The circumstances surrounding betr’s exit are curious, to say the least. The betting operator is backed by individuals and groups with years of experience in the industry.
Matthew Tripp, and the people from Tekkorp Capital, Apollo Global Management, News Corp and Blackstone, all involved with betr, should have anticipated those branding problems, if they were indeed the problem, and reacted sooner.
What makes betr’s unexpected exit even stranger is that the bookmaker already got approval from Western Australia to take over WA TAB’s operations.
However, The West Australian offered a different perspective. It said that betr was given a deadline to show that it had the money to finance the deal. We don’t know more than that other than the fact that if there was a deadline, betr probably missed it.
Tabcorp’s Large Footprint in Australia Makes It The Favourite
With betr out of the picture, Tabcorp is the favourite to get the WA TAB license and Tabcorp’s large Australian footprint will work in the betting operator’s favour.
However, that does not automatically eliminate Entain from the race. According to The Australian, the government would first speak to both wagering giants before deciding which one will get the WA TAB business.
As for betr, it seems that after its last-minute WA TAB exit, the News Corp bookie will focus all its energy on entering and dominating the Victorian betting market.
However, after the rocky start with the WA TAB bid, the betting operator will have to analyze its future deals and have better foresight if it is to be taken seriously.
