The AHA NSW and Entain Australia announce they have signed a long-term agreement to bring digital wagering competition to NSW hotels for the first time. This partnership enables Entain Australia to promote Ladbrokes and Neds, its digital wagering brands, in the state’s pubs. The company will do it through a new advertising and sponsorship arrangement.
A bold combination of new digital strategies and traditional betting:
John Whelan, CEO of AHA NSW, thinks this new agreement will benefit their members. He spoke of the reasons for this agreement: “For decades now, many NSW hotels have operated PubTABs for Tabcorp at a significant loss – primarily due to high Sky Channel and EBT (betting terminal) fees. In country NSW it’s even worse, with the majority of country pubs currently running their PubTAB at a loss. Today’s partnership with a world leader in Entain will finally give NSW hotels competition and choice.”
He said that Entain recognized the opportunity for them to connect and communicate with the audience inside the hotel.
Whelan pointed out that AHA NSW was committed to supporting Tabcorp’s exclusive retail licence in NSW: “Retail wagering in our venues is extremely important, with NSW pubs generating about half the current national PubTAB turnover,” he said, and added: “Tabcorp has a long-term exclusive retail licence in NSW and, of course, we will continue to support TAB retail in-venue.”
Promoting the local pub punters club:
NSW is pleased that Entain is focused on promoting the local pub punters club, which has been part of the social fabric of hotels for more than 100 years. It means in the future, there will no longer be a need for the blackboard behind the bar to register the week’s selections. It’s great that Mates Mode makes the Saturday pub punters club much more social and easier to participate in and administer. Around 600 NSW pubs still don’t have Sky Channel or TAB wagering.
NSW expects this agreement could make it more affordable for their venues to promote, for the first time, the three codes of racing.
An exciting way to promote digital wagering:
Dean Shannon, CEO of Entain Australia, is also satisfied with this agreement. He stated that the new partnership would offer licenced venues in NSW an exciting new way to promote a choice of Entain digital wagering offerings to their patrons while at the same time not offending the current NSW retail wagering exclusivity arrangements.
Shannon added that Entain Australia applauded AHA NSW for their vision in agreeing to work with them to bring this partnership to life: “While there is still value in more traditional cash retail wagering, there is a highly engaged audience of punters who like to go down to their local for a bet with their mates, and how they do that has evolved.”
Entain is known for supporting racing through sponsorships of racing clubs in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, and the NT. It plans to invest further in the racing ecosystems in NSW over the next year.
This agreement is essential – it recognizes that evolution and offers choices for the benefit of AHA NSW members and their patrons.
But they won’t give up on traditional cash wagering. The company is optimistic that standard cash wagering can co-exist in a hotel alongside an advertising sponsorship arrangement with Entain, which is more digitally oriented.
Key points of the agreement:
NSW pubs that accept this sponsorship will promote their digital wagering platforms via in-venue advertising for Ladbrokes or Neds. NSW hotels will continue to operate Tabcorp’s retail wagering in their venues.
Also, there are a few things that NSW pubs aren’t allowed to do during this agreement. They are not supposed to install or operate any physical Entain wagering facilities, receive any commission from Entain for any bets placed, or hire staff operating Entain wagering terminals, such as iPads or phones. Staff isn’t allowed to accept bets from hotel patrons on behalf of Entain and advertise to the general public on the exterior of their hotel.
There are currently more than 1000 NSW hotels with a PubTAB.