They are in cuckooland if they think GEO blocking will bring in an additional $1 billion. Whatever the amount is going overseas I would be surprised if they recovered 20% of it. The big punters who bet overseas due to higher odds will get around GEO blocking. Over the next 20 years another generation of punters will be gone. Casino's, gambling machines and Lotto will keep attracting the younger crowd. The increase on gaming machines is a huge worry. Thats where the NZ TAB is getting bashed. The ease of pushing of a button verse trying to do form to bet on a race is too complicated for the younger generation.
When you look at the TAB's three main NZ competitors increase in gambling activity below and the nil growth of the NZ TAB in the previous 12 months it's pretty obvious where the leakage is going. I don't think under Entain the service to NZ punters has improved which is a worry if they are the only game in town if GEO blocking is introduced.
I know a few long-time punters who although they hardly bet overseas won't like getting shut out and left with only one betting option.
It might have helped if the NZ TAB had better educated their customers that every dollar bet in NZ funds and improves the NZ racing industry and sporting codes. Lotto pushes the fact that every dollar returns a % to their community. Some overseas bookmakers do pay fees to the NZ racing codes, why haven't the betting public been advised which ones do? The codes should be saying if you do want to bet overseas consider using these betting sites as they support NZ racing. If it comes to the crunch when considering overseas betting sites and one supports NZ racing and another one doesn't I am sure the majority would support the former. Ridiculous complaining about leakage when you don't proactively look to address certain areas yourself.
I hate to think how much money has been lost because the DIA whose job it is to enforce the above hasn't followed through. The amount of actual overseas betting outfits that take betting on NZ product and pay consumption charges is at the low end of the scale. When GEO blocking comes in you might find the NRL, tennis and other Australian sporting codes that NZ punters bet on come knocking at the door and say if it's good enough for you guys to charge Australian betting companies to pay fees on NZ sporting events they take bets on, then the same should apply to you guys taking bets on our product. NRL season betting turnover on NZ TAB verse Aussies taking betting on NZ based league - its not hard to do the math's.
Saying GEO blocking would bring in additional $1 billion is plucking a figure out of the sky - they need to come up with a better case than that.
CER was created for a reason.