Australia’s Federal court has found in favour of ‘Sportsbet’, the Darwin based internet bookmaker in a dispute that could have far reaching consequences for the Australian gambling market.
The Federal court has ruled that NSW and its racing industry bodies have deliberately discriminated against interstate bookmakers in favour of Tabcorp, the States main gambling operator.
In what is a clear case of protectionism, the Federal court rules that the racing fee of 1.5% charged to interstate bookmakers was discriminatory and aimed at protecting Tabcorp’s monopolistic share of the NSW racing market.
Around $229,000 a month was paid by Sportsbet to NSW Racing and whilst this fee was also collected from Tabcorp and other on-course bookmakers, Sportsbet were discrimated against on the grounds that this fee was returned to it’s competitors via rebates.
Sportsbet paid a fee of about $229,000 a month. The court found Sportsbet was discriminated against because the fee collected from TAB and on-course NSW bookmakers was being returned to them through rebates.
Whilst the Federal court has rules that Racing NSW must repay Sportsbet $2m, the implications of this court case are likely to be felt across the entire Australian gambling industry, and marks a significant milestone in the ongoing challenge to fight protectionism in this market.
More information on the case is available from the Australian Age news site.
Source: Online Pokies Club - the number one source of instant play free pokies.
This entry was written by Nena on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 8:18 pm and is filed under News.
