World Cup bonanza for NZ TAB as 22,000 punters sign up

More than 22,000 Kiwi punters joined the NZ TAB or betcha during the soccer World Cup, with 173,000 punters placing a bet on the global football tournament.

Entain’s New Zealand managing director Chris Haigh, who recently replaced Sam Moncur in the crucial role, wrote that the tournament’s friendly time zone helped encourage turnover and account sign-ups.

Writing in the latest Entain Edition newsletter, Haigh also reported that turnover on New Zealand thoroughbred racing in the three months from May to July was $98 million, up 10.8 per cent on the corresponding period last year. Harness racing ($43.9 million) was also up 7.7 per cent.

Total racing turnover including overseas betting hit $475.22 million during that period while 175,581 punters placed a bet on racing during that quarter.

The Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap was the biggest-betting race with $498,000 turnover with NZ TAB while domestically the Group 1 Tauranga Classic generated $491,000 in turnover.

“Many pieces of the wagering puzzle are falling into place … but there’s still improvement to be made, especially in the domestic racing sector where about a quarter of our NZ business is drawn from,” Haigh wrote.

Sports betting turnover with TAB NZ and betcha was up a massive 74 per cent year-on-year, with the World Cup a major reason for that.