7 Comments

Great video! I like how you break companies down.

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Thank you!

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great coverage, thank you!

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Great write-up, Michael.

How does totalizator betting work exactly in Australia? You give the familiar definition of putting all bets into a pool, taking out the house cut, and sharing the remaining among the winners. However, the PPT reads "[tote] is a device used at race tracks to calculate and display odds or payoffs for each horse". I may be misunderstanding this.

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Hi Student,

A totalisator used to be an actual device but "totalisator betting" refers to the method by which bets are grouped together in a pool with the odds then calculated based off of the amounts wagered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoxfkID4clQ

Only 2% of TAB's venues are on-course near the races themselves, with most betting taking place at TAB's retail outlets within pubs, clubs, etc. where screens are offered and wagers can be handed in. You can also use TAB's app to put on a wager.

The industry structure differs from state to state. For example, in Northern Territory, the government funds the racing industry itself (a so-called "separation model"). In Queensland, Tabcorp pays the racing industry a share of any profits and the industry is not reliant on the government for any funding (called a "contractual model"). In Victoria, Tabcorp has a joint venture with the government sharing the proceeds of any wagering activity.

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Got it. The tote is a live view of the odds as opposed to the odds at which one would bet before the race. Thanks for the explanation.

How do you feel about their relatively weak mobile app compared to competitors in view of the massive shift of betting to the digital channel (~60% now)? Are they relying more on the pub/club experience relative to other players in the space?

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Well I can't find any evidence that the new TAB app is better than Sportsbet's, so I'm not comfortable assuming an improvement in digital market share. The change in management is positive but it might take a year or two before we see the effects of Rytenskild's leadership. 60% of wagering turnover comes from web / the app but I'd imagine that the retail turnover share will come back after the weak foot traffic we saw during the pandemic.

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