Cormac Barry, CEO of online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au, has labelled Jeff Kennett as irrelevant, ill-informed and out of touch with reality following his recent comments on corporate bookmakers.
“Jeff Kennett’s primary concern appears to be that corporate bookmakers pay less money to the racing industry than Tabcorp. This in itself shows just how out of touch with the situation he really is,” said Barry.
“Kennett obviously isn’t aware of this, or chose not to mention it, but the reason Tabcorp pays more money to racing is because Tabcorp have brought the rights to operate a retail monopoly in Victoria and New South Wales, of which a condition is that they pay more fees to racing. The reality is that outside of these arrangements, Tabcorp pays the exact same fees to racing as we do.
“The fact is that the racing bodies around the country decide what fees we pay to racing, not us. The contribution we make is substantial and the racing bodies are obviously happy with the current fees, otherwise they would change it. I’m confident Jeff’s views aren’t shared by the racing bodies and they see corporate bookmakers as key business partners to their operation. Listening to Bernard Saundry, CEO of Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) on the radio yesterday in regards to this issue is proof of that.”
“Finally, one thing that Jeff failed to mention was that the competition provided in the wagering sector has benefitted the most important people in it, the punters. They now have access to better products, pricing and service. I’m sure this is something Jeff can relate to, given he admitted himself that he bets with a corporate bookmaker. Fundamentally, Jeff’s comments have no credibility whatsoever.”
