Murdoch Newspapers backs Online Betting in England and Ireland

Both Tabcorp Holdings Limited as well as the News UK recently announced that they would be partners in a new venture of online betting and gaming business in the U. K. and Ireland.

This business will be known as Sun Bets and is to be launched during 2016.

The new business will be bringing together Tabcorp's capability in the global wagering market utilizing Mr Rupert Murdoch's News UK's enormous customer base as well as their market-leading media assets, this includes The Sun newspaper (both print and digital properties) and their associated sports and racing products (Dream Team FC, Favourite and Goals).

The agreement are structured as a revenue share agreement with the News UK to be undertaking the internal and external media promotion side of the business. In return, Tabcorp will be providing News UK with a share of revenues received from the new business in the coming years. This agreement is subject to Tabcorp receiving the necessary licences as well as the regulatory approvals with the agreement to run for an initial period of 10 years, and extensions will be subject to performance.

Tabcorp’s Managing Director, and CEO, Mr. David Attenborough said that the entry into the UK and Irish markets together with the News partnership was an exciting opportunity for Tabcorp, he continued that they take their capability into this A$7 billion UK online gambling market.

He stated that the Sun had over than 10 million readers weekly and more than 1 million football fans who actively engage through The Sun’s Dream Team FC fantasy football competition.

The partnership would provide them with the opportunity to establish a leading online bookmaker for the market in the UK under their Sun Bets brand in the coming years and will fit in with their strategy of pursuing a number of close-to-core international opportunities.

Ms. Rebekah Brooks, who is the CEO of News UK said the deal with Tabcorp marked a pivotal moment within the digital transformation of the company and will create a world-class online sports book that is to engage and entertain the public who enjoy betting in the inimitable style of The Sun.

She continued that these two powerful brands of The Sun and their Dream Team’s fantasy football competition have already established incredible reach and that she has confidence that this would be a very rewarding partnership and that the future will show that Sun Bets will be firmly established as a key player to the online betting business.

Tabcorp is a well known leading Australian gambling entertainment company and they are a top 100 public company that is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. They are one of the world's biggest publicly listed gambling companies and also one of the biggest wagering operators with regards to revenue.

News UK will be anchoring the business through The Sun, because they are the most read British newspaper boosting more than seven million readers daily. The newspaper company also has an Irish edition that is known as The Irish Sun, this is unrelated to the Irish Sun online news site.