Tabcorp and News Corp Partner Up to Enter UK Online Gambling Market

Keno and sports betting provider Tabcorp has paired up with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to enter the lucrative UK online gambling market.

In UK gambling news, Tabcorp has signed a 10-year deal with News Corp to set up a gaming and sports wagering website linked to The Sun newspaper. The website will be called ‘Sun Bets’ and is set to launch in 2016. Tabcorp and News Corp will share the revenue, while News UK will be the main promoter of the online sports betting business.

Pairing the £3 UK online gambling market with The Sun—the UK’s most widely read print newspaper and the third most read online—is stroke of business genius. Says Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough of the deal: “This partnership provides us with the opportunity to create a leading online bookmaker in the UK market under the Sun Bets brand over the coming years and fits with our strategy of pursuing close-to-core international opportunities.”

UK online gambling market booming thanks to fantasy sports, internet betting

Internet betting in the UK is a flourishing industry that only continues to grow in popularity, making it little wonder that Tabcorp and News Corp have decided to take a foray into the UK online gambling market. They are also taking advantage of the wild popularity of fantasy sports, with over a million football fans already engaging in The Sun’s paper-based Dream Team fantasy football.

News UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks says that the Sun’s Dream Team fantasy football competition has gone above and beyond expectations, and that creating a similar business venture online was a natural next step. Says Brooks: “I have every confidence that this will be a rewarding partnership, which will see Sun Bets firmly established as a key player in the online betting business.”