Sportsbet/BetEasy merger would dominate online betting market
New research from Roy Morgan shows a global merger of the online betting companies in control of Sportsbet and BetEasy would dominate the Australian online betting market.
Over 52% of the estimated 1.7 million Australians who place bets online use either Sportsbet (44% of online bettors) or BetEasy (15%) or both. Other leading online betting sites include TAB.com.au/UBET (35%), Ladbrokes (19%), Bet365.com (11%), TABtouch.com.au (3%) and Betfair.com.au (2%).
These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.
“Consolidation in the Australian and global gambling industries is continuing, with the recently announced merger between global giants The Stars Group and Flutter Entertainment” says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine. “In the Australian context these groups control two of the biggest players in online betting including market leader Sportsbet and No. 3 BetEasy. A combined Sportsbet/BetEasy would reach over 52% of Australia’s 1.7 million estimated online bettors, far ahead of second-placed TAB.com.au/UBET (35%).”
Market-leader Sportsbet is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Irish based Flutter Entertainment while the relatively new BetEasy brand is owned by Canadian gambling giant The Stars Group. The Stars Group brought together well-known Australian betting companies including Sportingbet, Centrebet, CrownBet, TomWaterhouse and William Hill Australia under the BetEasy brand in mid-2018.
Australia’s estimated 1.7 million bettors are well paid and like to spend their hard earned dollars
The average online bettor in Australia is a male Millennial with a personal income of over $70K and household income of over $120K. He’s likely part of the Visible Achievement Roy Morgan Values Segment – ‘While they can afford to buy the best of everything, they look for quality and value for money, not necessarily something that is expensive.’
He’s in full-time employment, likely as a Professional/Manager, and fits into the ‘Big spender’ category in regards to discretionary expenditure. In addition to betting, he says he is far more likely than the average Australian to ‘love to do as many sports as possible’.
He’s also more likely than the average Australian to ‘choose a car mainly on its looks’, ‘buy a product because of the label’ and ‘he’s always ready to try new and different products’.
The proliferation of online betting has been aided by the rise of smartphones and this quintessential online bettor takes advantage of this flexibility. He is more than twice as likely as the average Australian to head out to a pub or hotel for a drink, enjoy a night at the casino or a night club, attend professional sporting events and play games of pool or snooker.
Betting Websites used by Online Bettors
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, January – June 2019, n=542. Base: Australians aged 18+ who had a bet in the last 12 months. *BetEasy brings together brands including Sportingbet, Centrebet, CrownBet, TomWaterhouse and William Hill Australia. Ladbrokes includes NEDs and Betstar.
Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says:
“Of course a merger doesn’t generally result in ‘no change’ to the situation – mergers often risk losing customers, as the merged entity risks not appealing to either customer base as well as solo operators. However on occasion a merger can create an even better offering and gain new customers. The challenge is always to understand customers and the decisions they make.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
