Tabcorp Holdings, an Australian lottery and sports betting operator has confirmed that it will terminate the joint venture with Sun Bets,following discussion with News UK The joint venture was due to end on the 31st December 2019 but it has been confirmed that it will end in the next couple of days and Tabcorp staff in the Uk have been informed.
Penalty incurred
This latest move is said to be costing Tabcorp a penalty payment in the region of £40 million. Updating investors, Group Chief Executive of Tabcorp David Attenborough stated:“The performance of Sun Bets has been below expectations and we do not expect a material improvement over the next 18 months. As such, we have reached an agreement with News UK to exit the agreement. While we didn’t get it right, we have taken valuable learnings from the Sun Bets start-up process and operations which will inform our approach across our portfolio”. News UK is already in the process of having discussions with other sportsbook suppliers and quoted that the failure of the joint venture with Sun Bets was due to Tabcorp not being familiar with the UK betting market and other products in general