McLachlan eyes global opportunities for Tabcorp with DAZN WorldPlay partnership

Tabcorp has stepped up its partnership with global sports streaming giant DAZN to launch a World Cup engagement product called WorldPlay, as it looks to leverage its assets and expand its sports entertainment offering.

WorldPlay is a free-to-play sports gaming platform spanning Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Austria, reaching a potential audience of almost 200 million people. In Australia, Tabcorp is facilitating a guaranteed $500,000 prize pool.

It launches around the FIFA World Cup knockout stages, allowing fans to predict the outcome of every match from the Round of 32, which starts on Sunday, through to the final on July 19. 

Participants compete against players across multiple countries, with Australian players eligible for a possible $20 million perfect bracket payout.

The venture is significant for Tabcorp, enabling it to capitalise on global sporting events despite its wagering operations being limited to Australia.

“WorldPlay reflects Tabcorp’s ambition to build new sports entertainment experiences in new categories,” McLachlan said.

“It shows how Tabcorp and DAZN can use their local and international sports experience to build new sports entertainment products in new categories.”

DAZN has emerged as one of the most powerful streaming platforms in global sports, and acquired Foxtel Group, including Foxtel, Kayo, Binge and Hubbl, in April 2025.

It doesn’t hold World Cup streaming or broadcast rights in Australia, as that belongs to SBS due to Australia’s anti-siphoning laws, which requires major sporting events to remain available on free-to-air television.

But DAZN does hold rights for the tournament in Italy, Spain, Japan and Latin America.

The launch comes as sports broadcasters and wagering companies increasingly seek to create deeper fan engagement beyond live viewing, using prediction games, fantasy products and other interactive experiences to keep audiences connected to major sporting events.

In Australia, bookmakers have long used tipping competitions and free-to-play games as customer acquisition tools.

DAZN Group chief executive Shay Segev said WorldPlay aligned with the company’s strategy of building greater interactivity around sport.

“DAZN is reimagining how fans engage with sport on a global scale, and WorldPlay is an extension of that ambition,” Segev said.

“By bringing a gaming experience to fans across multiple markets, we are turning the world’s biggest sporting event into an opportunity for even more interactivity and connection.”

Segev said the venture represented the start of a broader relationship between the two companies.

“This partnership with Tabcorp marks the beginning of a global collaboration, combining DAZN’s built-for-sport platform with innovative gameplay to unite fans around the World Cup.”

In addition to the prediction platform, the companies have launched WorldPlayHQ, a studio program produced by Tabcorp-owned Sky Racing, hosted by Ben Way, featuring contributors from around the world and aimed at creating a shared conversation around the tournament.

The concept is modelled on the bracket competitions popular in US sports, particularly college basketball’s March Madness tournament.

Broadcaster ESPN generated 27 million individual entries in its bracket competition this year.  

McLachlan said the product had been deliberately developed outside traditional wagering.

“It is free to play, globally scalable, and designed to create fan experiences beyond traditional wagering,” he said.

The companies have flagged plans to expand into other sports, fantasy-style competitions and premium fan experiences.