The move could also affect the potential sale of Tabcorp’s TAB in Australia

News Corp reportedly in talks with Fox Corp, Matthew Tripp to launch new betting outfit

News Corp asked for expressions of interest among Australia’s established bookmakers last year to find a local partner to launch FOX Bet, but its preferred option would now be to launch as a standalone outfit.
2021-05-31
Reading time 3:08 min
Reportedly, News Corp is seeking to secure licensing rights to use the FOX Bet brand for the new business. Tripp fronted a $4B cash-and-scrip bid for the BetMakers division on Friday. BetMakers would provide the back-end systems News Corp would need to establish its wagering operations in Australia.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Australia is reportedly in advanced talks with a consortium backed by bookmaker Matthew Tripp to launch a new wagering outfit that would reshape both the local industry and the battle for Tabcorp’s betting division, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

According to the Australian newspaper, industry sources said News Corp is also in talks with US media business Fox Corp, which is also controlled by the Murdoch family, to secure licensing rights to use the FOX Bet brand for the new business.

Fox Corp was previously interested in establishing the FOX Bet brand in Australia with the help of another wagering company. But The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported the brand is expected to be operated by the Murdochs local media arm, News Corp, marking its first major play in the local wagering industry. 

News Corp asked for expressions of interest among Australia’s established bookmakers last year to find a local partner to launch FOX Bet, but its preferred option would now be to launch as a standalone outfit with equity partners tied to local online gambling pioneer Tripp, the former boss of Sportsbet and founder of BetEasy. However, reportedly, neither deal had been formalized but the talks were advanced.

News Corp partnering with the consortium linked to Tripp could also reshape the battle for Australia’s largest bookmaker, Tabcorp’s TAB, after Tripp fronted a $4 billion cash-and-scrip bid by ASX-listed wagering technology outfit BetMakers for the division on Friday morning.

While BetMakers is not directly involved with the consortium looking to launch FOX Bet, it would provide the back-end systems News Corp would need to establish its wagering operations in Australia, meanwhile, if BetMakers’ bid for TAB is successful, Tripp’s involvement in both groups would likely result in it taking over FOX Bet and operating the two brands side-by-side, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

This aligns with Tripp’s vision of reviving TAB by launching a second brand targeting younger punters who are more interested in punting sports than racing.

Tripp, who built Sportsbet into the nation’s second-largest bookie behind the TAB, before launching and then selling BetEasy - invested $25 million in BetMakers in February and joined it as an adviser tasked with finding major deals.

BetMakers has offered to pay $1 billion in cash to Tabcorp along with $3 billion worth of its own shares, which have grown three-fold in value over the past year off the back of its expansion into the United States. However, the offer appeared to spook BetMakers’ own investors, with its share price falling 16% after it was revealed on Friday.

Tabcorp’s Steven Gregg-led board has been under pressure from investors to demerge the struggling TAB from its booming lotteries arm and was already weighing up offers of $3.5 billion for its wagering and media division from the UK outfit Entain, which owns the rival bookie Ladbrokes, and private equity group Apollo.

Whether or not it has any impact on what happens with Tabcorp, the launch of FOX Bet locally will significantly shake up the wagering markets’ competitive landscape following several years of consolidation among online bookies, mirroring global trends.

News Corp already has a small presence in the local wagering industry, by quoting live sports odds on some games on Foxtel’s streaming services, and it also owns the racing sites Punters.com.au and Racenet. The creation of a wagering company with a partner such as Tripp would solidify its interest in the gaming and wagering industry.

The Sydney Morning Herald indicated the purchase of the FOX Bet name by News Corp is expected to be via non-cash agreement, formed with advertising credits from the company’s masthead The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Herald Sun, and pay-TV operator, Foxtel.

The recent legalization of sports betting in the United States has been a bonanza for Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox, which established the FOX Bet joint venture with US gaming giant The Stars Group in 2019.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, News Corp sources familiar with the ongoing talks said that early last year, when sporting events were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, Foxtel’s sales team were asked to put on hold any future sports sponsorship deals because of the imminent launch of FOX Bet.

The Murdochs, who founded News Corp, have a 39% interest in Fox via a family trust. Rupert Murdoch is the chairman and Lachlan Murdoch is executive chairman and chief executive.

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