Punters line up to place bets at the TAB during the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Million at Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland on Saturday 23rd January 2021. Copyright photo: Alan Lee / www.photosport.nz
OPINION:
The first and most obvious questions most New Zealand punters will ask about the new TAB/Entain partnership is: what does this mean for me?
The answer for most is, not much.
The strategic partnership, should it go through, will have little or no effect on the average Kiwi punters having their $10 on their favourite horse or first try scorer.
It might provide a few more fun technical options, a slicker website or phone app and more markets and sports to bet on.
It could even provide racing punters with slightly more competitive fixed odds prices, as Entain’s market percentages tend to be tighter at race start time, so therefore providing bigger dividends.
The deal could also see a rebranding of the TAB’s tired retail shops and pub tabs, many of which are badly in need of a facelift.
One of the more relevant concerns for more regular and particularly winning or smarter punters is that they will be able to get bets on at the level they want rather than facing increased restrictions.
All bookmakers worldwide eventually restrict winning punters but the New Zealand TAB has a world-leading Punters’ Promise policy which in most cases guarantees racing punters to back any horse or dog to win $2000 on a win bet.
To lose that on top of the potential for a monopoly created by geo-blocking would be disastrous and unfair for New Zealand’s more serious punters.
The Herald understands the Entain proposal to the TAB includes bets being guaranteed to be allowed in line with Australian rules (minimum bet laws) and the Minister has indicated he will take that protection of punters’ rights seriously.
Whether the new TAB/Entain partnership extends the enormously popular No Deductions rule for fixed odds betting is unclear, although it doesn’t seem to have damaged the TAB’s returns since it was implemented in the spring, and with New Zealand having few professional punters, it does not appear to have been manipulated as it would be in a more developed marketplace like Australia.
So for racing industry participants, the deal will be almost exclusively good news, with money for infrastructure and stakes the name of the game, and the deal provides initial sweeteners, a guaranteed five-year boost in funding and forecasts of much more to come.
Bottom line: The racing industry and to a smaller degree sports organisations are set to win.
And most punters won’t notice much difference, except having to download a new app if the TAB gets rebranded.
Trainers Darryn and Briar Weatherley will have only one runner at Taupō on Monday.