Aussie looking to Geo-blocking to stop billions leaking?!!!

[Chief Stipe]

The offshore drain: Racing is sleepwalking into a funding crisis

betsy.com.au

A global betting shift is stripping billions from Australian racing. The money is not disappearing. It is going offshore.

Australian wagering is edging toward the same fate that gutted the legal tobacco market. And if racing and governments do not act fast, owners and prizemoney will feel the hit long before anyone realises what has happened.https://bitofayarn.com

When governments pushed tobacco taxes to breaking point, smokers did not quit. They went underground. A $10 billion black market exploded. Smoking rates barely moved. Revenue collapsed.

According to a Responsible Wagering Australia report, the illegal offshore betting market has doubled since 2019.

Australians now lose $3.9 billion a year to sites that pay no tax, offer no protections and give nothing back to racing. That figure is expected to hit $5 billion by 2029.

As the report warns, “over the past two years in particular, the onshore betting market has decreased by five percent, while the illegal offshore market has grown by fourteen percent.”

The hit to racing is enormous. Offshore operators now take 36 percent of all online wagering in Australia. Governments are staring at almost $2 billion in lost revenue over the next five years. Racing and sports will miss almost $800 million in product fees.https://bitofayarn.com

Not all offshore turnover is recoverable. Some of it comes from criminals or activity that will never be welcomed back onshore. But a huge slice comes from everyday punters chasing a better deal. That is the cohort racing can still save.

Sportsbet chief commercial officer Nathan Arundell says the damage is already on the doorstep.

“The new research released by RWA shows the growing threat of illegal offshore gambling, including to racing across Australia. It shows racing losing between $100 million and $135 million each year and growing.”
“This undermines funding for integrity, equine welfare, prizemoney, and importantly, puts jobs at risk.”https://bitofayarn.com

“As the offshore market expands, the cost of integrity monitoring, investigations and insurance for racing authorities will continue to increase. Offshore creates new opportunities for race manipulation, but none of the data transparency needed to detect it.”

“Sportsbet believes that protecting Australian punters requires genuine collaboration between industry, regulators, and government. Key measures include a national framework to ensure official racing data is supplied only to licensed operators. A national illegal gambling blacklist. And engaging banks and payment providers to block payments to illegal operators, including preventing credit from being used to fund betting.”https://bitofayarn.com

These structural vulnerabilities explain why industry leaders are calling for stronger national coordination. But none of those measures answer the core question: why are everyday punters choosing to leave the regulated system in the first place?

The RWA surveyed 4,000 of them. Almost half said the same thing. “Better odds.” Not better apps. Not better promos. Just better prices.

But price is only part of it. Offshore operators push aggressive bonuses that are banned or restricted in Australia. They pay no tax, so they run far thinner markets. They also offer full iGaming products that are illegal onshore and heavily marketed overseas.

Then there is in-play betting. Offshore bookies offer in-running markets on every match, every point and every possession. Australian punters can only do it over the phone, which is slow and outdated. Combine that with casino-style products and you get a sticky ecosystem that keeps customers offshore.

This is why younger punters are drifting away. They live on live sport. They expect instant access. Australia tells them to call a phone line in 2025. Offshore tells them to click a button.

At this point the cause and effect becomes clear. Punters want value. Regulation and taxes make value harder to offer onshore. And the more offshore grows, the more pressure racing faces to fund its own integrity and prizemoney. This is the path to an industry that slowly bleeds out.https://bitofayarn.com

Principal Racing Authorities have levers. If racing wants to keep turnover onshore, pricing must be fixed. Taxation and fees need to come down. Lower costs mean lower market percentages. Lower market percentages mean better odds. Better odds keep turnover here. That is the difference between an industry that grows and one that slowly bleeds out.

Governments have a role too. The tobacco lesson is simple. Push taxes too far and the market goes underground. A more realistic Point of Consumption Tax is essential. The surge in offshore activity mirrors the introduction and escalation of PoCT.

Government should also review the ban on online in-play sports betting. It is one of the clearest product gaps pushing younger punters offshore. Allowing regulated in-play online removes a major reason customers drift away and keeps turnover inside the system.

Reduced taxation burdens give bookmakers the room to offer competitive odds and bring lost turnover back home.https://bitofayarn.com

Stronger blocking tools, a national data framework and coordinated enforcement all matter. But none of it will work unless punters believe they get real value onshore. Pricing sits at the centre of all of it.

The warning signs are flashing now. Racing and government must act with urgency. Lower costs. Smarter taxes. Better odds. More competitive products. If not, turnover will keep draining offshore. And once it goes, it does not come back.

[Chief Stipe]

A shame some punters don't have a conscience!

Add to the issues described in the article is the one of gambling using Crypto-currency.

[Shab]

56 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Add to the issues described in the article is the one of gambling using Crypto-currency

And prediction markets.

[Shab]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

shame some punters don't have a conscience

Like the conscience bookies and governments have.

[curious]

I don't see in the article, where geo-blocking is mentioned as an option as per the head post.

[curious]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

A shame some punters don't have a conscience!

Add to the issues described in the article is the one of gambling using Crypto-currency.

I don't really see what the currency that people gamble in has to do with it?

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, curious said:

I don't see in the article, where geo-blocking is mentioned as an option as per the head post.

Well how do you fix the leaks?

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, curious said:

I don't really see what the currency that people gamble in has to do with it?

Crypto is harder to trace.

[curious]

4 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well how do you fix the leaks?

Well the RWA are recommending "Lower costs. Smarter taxes. Better odds. More competitive products." which makes sense to me, but is the opposite of what they've done here.

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, curious said:

Well the RWA are recommending "Lower costs. Smarter taxes. Better odds. More competitive products." which makes sense to me, but is the opposite of what they've done here.

You only read the bits that you agree with.  How do you offer better odds when your margins are tighter than the free loading competitors?  

People are punting on the product YOU provide at YOUR cost through bookies that contribute nothing to the stakes you are racing for.  But then I guess racing horses is just a hobby for you.

[curious]

9 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Crypto is harder to trace.

I don't think so. Not in well regulated markets like Polymarket. I don't really see the difference. If Entain have found 200 operators still taking racing and sports bets from NZ resident customers, then there are obviously considerable compliance challenges with the legislation that we have here too.

[curious]

1 minute ago, Chief Stipe said:

You only read the bits that you agree with.  How do you offer better odds when your margins are tighter than the free loading competitors?  

Well I don't see where they have suggested anything else, certainly not geo-blocking, though I haven't read the report yet.

[curious]

https://responsiblewagering.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/H2-report-final-2.pdf

[Shab]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

How do you offer better odds when your margins are tighter than the free loading competitors?  

Why don’t they offer better odds in NZ when they pay less in taxes here? Same odds in NZ as Oz. You trying to get them to sponsor the site with all this? Probably a good idea.

[Chief Stipe]

9 minutes ago, Shab said:

Why don’t they offer better odds in NZ when they pay less in taxes here? Same odds in NZ as Oz. You trying to get them to sponsor the site with all this? Probably a good idea.

So what is the difference in margin that you are quibbling over?  BTW I'm winning when you aren't and I fund the product you try to make money on.