News Corp, BetMakers, Tekkorp Form Online Gaming Venture

April 22, 2022
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Australia’s BetMakers Technology Group has confirmed the formation of Australasian online wagering venture NTD, backed by a consortium including News Corp Australia, US-based online gaming fund Tekkorp and veteran industry player Matt Tripp.

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Australia’s BetMakers Technology Group has confirmed the formation of Australasian online wagering venture NTD, backed by a consortium including News Corp Australia, US-based online gaming fund Tekkorp and veteran industry player Matt Tripp.

BetMakers entered into a ten-year agreement to supply platform technology and services to NTD Pty Ltd for minimum revenue of A$80m ($59m) and a maximum income of A$318m over the life of the contract, according to the company’s filing with the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday (April 21).

The company said the as-yet unbranded operation will go live within six months in the highly competitive Australian and New Zealand online wagering markets.

Australian media had reported only a day before that the Australian arm of the Murdoch family-controlled media giant had not signed on to any deal, but it has been developing a strategy to enter the online gambling market for more than a year.

The deal weds BetMakers and News Corp with Las Vegas-based advisory group Tekkorp Capital, led by Australian industry heavyweight Matt Davey, and the Matt Tripp-invested fund TGW.

Tripp, who earlier propelled Sportsbet to the front of Australia’s online bookmaker pack before helming Crown Resorts-invested BetEasy, was appointed as an advisor to BetMakers in early 2021 and is now a significant shareholder of the company.

“BetMakers provides one of the best end-to-end packages of technology and trading services in the global B2B wagering market, which is why I am happy to invest in a new wagering venture that will rely upon it,” he said in the filing.

Meanwhile, Davey will step down from the BetMakers board because of “time commitments of the new venture, and other international ventures”, the filing said, but will remain a “committed, long-term company shareholder”.

The NTD venture will apply for online bookmaking licences in Australia and New Zealand for “racing and sports” and will “seek to add new products and experiences for Australian and New Zealand customers that will grow the overall market”, it said.

NTD is the most significant gaming investment for News Corp since the ill-fated, UK-facing Sun Bets joint venture with Australian wagering and lottery behemoth Tabcorp Holdings that launched in 2016 and folded ignominiously two years later.

But News Corp has been investing in gambling for some time, including appointing a group director for wagering in 2016 and acquiring form guide and racing forum punters.com.au soon after.

News Corp has also come under sustained political pressure in Australia in recent months as opposition Labor party identities call for a Royal Commission into its activities ahead of next month’s federal elections.

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