Big hitters involved

News Corp Australia is getting ready to launch a new sportsbook in 2022. The Rupert Murdoch-owned news and media company is working alongside a consortium that has ties to well-known Australian gambling entrepreneur Matthew Tripp.

The process of creating a strategy for the new sportsbook has been going on for over a year now. There have been negotiations with numerous possible joint venture partners in the betting industry.

agreed to an equity partnership with multiple investors

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, these negotiations are at an end as News Corp has agreed to an equity partnership with multiple investors. In addition to the links to Tripp, there is also an association with Las Vegas-based Tekkorp, an online gambling investment fund that is led by an Australian-born entrepreneur. There are no details about when an announcement of the new operation might occur or the actual launch date.

Anonymous sources

Sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald that News Corp informed its leading sports editorial staff that they can begin advertising the new operation in the coming month. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were discussing matters that are confidential.

They also said that Andrew Menz is set to become the chief executive of the new operation. Menz had been the BetEasy CEO up until the merger with Sportsbet, when he became the Sportsbet chief commercial officer. In May 2021, Menz left Sportsbet amid speculation that he was joining a new venture that Tripp was creating.

Shaking up Australia’s betting market

As News Corp has such as significant media reach in Australia, the new sportsbook operation will likely have a lot of weight behind it when it comes to advertising. There aren’t many major online sportsbook operators currently up and running in the country. BetEasy and Sportsbet merged a couple of years ago and Tabcorp has been struggling in the online sector.

News Corp is hoping that the new sports betting operation will generate significant revenue, helping to offset the performance decline in recent times of its print media assets. According to a Wall Street Journal report, BetMakers Technology will be providing the technology for the new sportsbook. Matthew Tripp bought an AU$25m (US$18.6m) stake in BetMakers last year. Trading of shares in the Australian Stock Exchange-listed BetMakers Technology was halted on Wednesday morning.