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Betting coup for ACT?
By TONY BOURKE
Saturday 17 March 2001
Australia will be the base for the biggest bookmaking operation in the world within six months following the merger announced yesterday between Vanuatu's Number One Betting Shop and Britain's Sportingbet.com
This was the confident claim by Alan Tripp, a bookmaking entrepreneur whose weekly turnover through his Vanuatu operation is the envy of all Australia-based bookmakers as well as the various state TABs.
The services available to the customers of the Number One Betting Shop include a wide range of betting fluctuations and the choice of various state TAB odds as well as a rebate on the cost of the telephone calls to Vanuatu.
Tripp said the merger between the two groups had followed months of negotiations.
He said Sportingbet.com, which operates from the Channel Islands and the Caribbean and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, was currently the seventh largest bookmaker in Europe.
The operation's listing on the London exchange is under the alternative investment market category, which, according to the LSE website, was introduced in 1995 "to meet the needs of smaller, growing companies which might not meet the criteria for a listing on the main market or for whom a more flexible regulatory environment is more appropriate".
Sportingbet.com employs 238 and provides Internet betting services in 107 countries. It trades in 24 currencies.
The NSW Government introduced legislation last year to make it unlawful for NSW punters to bet with the Number One Betting Shop, but the legislation has proved to be largely ineffectual.
The Victorian Government also has plans to prevent Tripp's operation having a base in Victoria. Legislation is expected to be passed in the autumn session of parliament but, as is the case with NSW, it seems as though it may have missed the boat.
Tripp said he had tried several times to arrange a meeting with Racing Minister Rob Hulls to enable his business to be registered in Victoria and pay a substantial fee for the privilege.
"I'm a Victorian and I'd like to operate from Victoria, where my family lives, but they (the government) are not interested in talking to me," Tripp said.
The Number One Betting Shop enjoys special tax concessions in Vanuatu, where it has operated for eight years and, with Victoria and NSW out of the question, its plans for relocation in Australia will be of great interest.
Tripp has held discussions with various authorities, but it seems that the ACT is at a short quote to become his operation's new home.
Under the deal struck with Sportingbet.com, Tripp will continue to run his wagering operation in its present form under a two-year performance trade-out agreement.
Tripp said he did not think the new bookmaking concern would be putting the local sports betting operators out of business.
"Competition is healthy but as far as we're concerned the sky's the limit and we'll be offering the best services available," he said.
He said that the NSW and Victorian governments had been given the opportunity to share in what will be a rapidly developing concern and had declined.
"What can they do now? This is the way of the future," he said.
"We are excited at the opportunity to join forces with Sportingbet.com, making us a truly global player with access to the world marketplace."
Betting coup for ACT?
By TONY BOURKE
Saturday 17 March 2001
Australia will be the base for the biggest bookmaking operation in the world within six months following the merger announced yesterday between Vanuatu's Number One Betting Shop and Britain's Sportingbet.com
This was the confident claim by Alan Tripp, a bookmaking entrepreneur whose weekly turnover through his Vanuatu operation is the envy of all Australia-based bookmakers as well as the various state TABs.
The services available to the customers of the Number One Betting Shop include a wide range of betting fluctuations and the choice of various state TAB odds as well as a rebate on the cost of the telephone calls to Vanuatu.
Tripp said the merger between the two groups had followed months of negotiations.
He said Sportingbet.com, which operates from the Channel Islands and the Caribbean and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, was currently the seventh largest bookmaker in Europe.
The operation's listing on the London exchange is under the alternative investment market category, which, according to the LSE website, was introduced in 1995 "to meet the needs of smaller, growing companies which might not meet the criteria for a listing on the main market or for whom a more flexible regulatory environment is more appropriate".
Sportingbet.com employs 238 and provides Internet betting services in 107 countries. It trades in 24 currencies.
The NSW Government introduced legislation last year to make it unlawful for NSW punters to bet with the Number One Betting Shop, but the legislation has proved to be largely ineffectual.
The Victorian Government also has plans to prevent Tripp's operation having a base in Victoria. Legislation is expected to be passed in the autumn session of parliament but, as is the case with NSW, it seems as though it may have missed the boat.
Tripp said he had tried several times to arrange a meeting with Racing Minister Rob Hulls to enable his business to be registered in Victoria and pay a substantial fee for the privilege.
"I'm a Victorian and I'd like to operate from Victoria, where my family lives, but they (the government) are not interested in talking to me," Tripp said.
The Number One Betting Shop enjoys special tax concessions in Vanuatu, where it has operated for eight years and, with Victoria and NSW out of the question, its plans for relocation in Australia will be of great interest.
Tripp has held discussions with various authorities, but it seems that the ACT is at a short quote to become his operation's new home.
Under the deal struck with Sportingbet.com, Tripp will continue to run his wagering operation in its present form under a two-year performance trade-out agreement.
Tripp said he did not think the new bookmaking concern would be putting the local sports betting operators out of business.
"Competition is healthy but as far as we're concerned the sky's the limit and we'll be offering the best services available," he said.
He said that the NSW and Victorian governments had been given the opportunity to share in what will be a rapidly developing concern and had declined.
"What can they do now? This is the way of the future," he said.
"We are excited at the opportunity to join forces with Sportingbet.com, making us a truly global player with access to the world marketplace."