The push to open up live in-play sports betting in Australia

The push for full access to online in-play betting for Australian customers is gathering momentum in the wagering industry as a means to halt the boom in unregulated operators offering the service and boost racing funding.

In-play betting via online is banned in Australia under the federal Interactive Gambling Act, with a couple of exceptions – phone betting, or in-venue through Tabcorp either via electronic betting terminals or over the counter.

Tabcorp is trialling an extension of this service, with the approval of the NSW regulator, Liquor and Gaming NSW, to allow in-venue customers to bet live on their own devices and accounts via “venue mode”.

A small number of venues are trialling this approach, and while it has yet to get widespread adoption, Tabcorp is using the trial to test its systems, technology and compliance.

“Tabcorp has proposed implementing enhanced protections to address risks of gambling harm during the trial. L&GNSW will closely monitor the effectiveness of these during the trial, and consider implementation of any additional controls prior to a full roll-out,” the regulator said at the time. 

“The approval is based on the NSW regulatory framework, and Tabcorp will need to ensure that implementation of the product complies with federal laws.”

The possible opening up of in-play betting was a hot topic at this week’s Backing The Punt wagering conference in Melbourne, with one senior executive from a rival wagering company saying they were “cheering Tabcorp on” as they see it as a key opportunity to convince government and regulators to change their approach.

Should the Tabcorp trial be successful and get broader approval from regulators in other states, there could be an opportunity for other wagering operators to follow suit, or at least lobby for change to the legislation.

While in-play betting is mainly be focused on sports wagering, the knock-on impact to racing could be significant with increased turnover driving more Point Of Consumption Tax which would then come back to the racing industry via state-based funding agreements.

It was suggested at the conference this is one of the levers racing can pull in order to grow its revenue and alleviate the reduction of wagering revenue after the pandemic-era wagering peak.

Several wagering providers have tried ways to interpret the Interactive Gambling Act in order to find solutions that would better facilitate in-play betting, such as the use of click-to-call or fast code solutions, only to fall foul of regulators.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) handed down a ruling in late 2023 which said that the use of such workarounds was a breach of the IGA, which had been amended in 2016 to try to prevent loopholes.

However, ACMA did not take any further action against the bookmakers, including market leader Sportsbet.

There is, however, a class action lawsuit pending from Sportsbet customers who accessed live in-play betting via the fast code service.

What has changed since then is the explosion of unregulated operators, which the industry estimates is syphoning $10 billion in turnover and $1.2 billion in revenue from the regulated market.

Set up via licenses in countries like the Caribbean Island of Curacao, these operators offer casino products and sports betting, including live in-play. 

While it is illegal for these betting providers to offer to Australian customers, Australian regulators are not empowered to pursue action beyond warning letters and blocking certain domains.

They are often set up with opaque corporate structures, which makes them almost impossible to shut down. ACMA has blocked over 1000 domains, only for similar operators to bob up elsewhere in what has amounted to regulatory whack-a-mole.

Two of the world’s biggest players in this unregulated market are actually Australian-based in terms of their operations, Stake and Shuffle. There is no evidence that either is accepting bets from Australian customers, but both are thriving multi-billion dollar global businesses, with other operators looking to imitate their success.   

Not in-play – Aussie bookies reject automated in-race pricing

While British punters started betting live in the run on Victorian racing this week, the limited in-play racing product on offer to Australian punters by bookmakers is unlikely to change

The StraightBren O’Brien

That led former Racing Queensland chief executive and now wagering executive Jason Scott to quip to The Straight that Sportsbet was “only the third biggest bookie on Collins St”, with both Stake and Shuffle headquartered nearby.

Wagering companies are increasingly keen to push the line that if the law is effectively powerless to stop Australians betting in-play with overseas-based grey market bookmakers, then a better solution would be to free up the regulated market to fulfil that need.

However, any legislative-led reform to the Interactive Gambling Act would have to wait until after the Albanese government deals with changes around wagering advertising, which has dragged on for over two years.

New Zealand has legalised online in-play betting, and at last report it represented around half of all turnover on sport in the country.

Live in-play betting has also driven the explosion of the American wagering market since the landmark PASPA repeal opened the door for fully legalised sports betting in 2018.

A report in January 2025 said 52 per cent of total bet amounts on sports in the United States were placed live. The numbers were higher in Greece (70 per cent), Italy (57 per cent) and Spain (55 per cent).