Sports gambling giants Ladbrokes and Neds are the first companies to be fined by the Australian media regulator for accepting in-play bets after a game has begun.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) found the companies, which are owned by Entain, accepted 78 illegal bets on the LIV golf tournament in Bangkok last year.
The $13,200 fine is minuscule in comparison to the turnover Ladbrokes and Neds generate in an industry worth an estimated $50bn annually, but is the maximum fine that can be imposed by Acma.
Online in-play bets were banned by the federal government more than two decades ago but can still be placed in person at Tabcorp venues or over the phone. They allow punters opportunities to bet as the game continues and can distort markets, as scouts at games quickly feed information to gamblers after key moments and before odds adjust.
Acma chair Nerida O’Loughlin said the ban on in-play bets was necessary to protect vulnerable people.
“Online in-play betting increases the risk for those people experiencing gambling harm as it provides fast outcomes and allows for higher frequency of bets,” O’Loughlin said.
According to Acma, Entain claimed the breach was due to its parent company entering the wrong start times for the tournament in its system. The company became aware of the breach when contacted by a customer three hours after play had started.
“Entain is a highly experienced wagering operator and it is disappointing it did not have internal procedures in place to prevent or detect the error,” O’Loughlin said.
“Acma made it clear to the industry last year that they must have robust systems in place to ensure that online in-play bets are not made available or accepted.”
An Entain spokesperson said it was “disappointed its internal processes did not pick up this timing error and will continue to review and refine procedures in an effort to avoid future incidents”.
Last month, Entain was fined nearly $80,000 for serious breaches of its licence and failing to limit damage caused by Gavin Fineff, a financial adviser who stole millions of dollars from his clients to service his gambling addiction.
In November, Acma cleared Australia’s biggest sports gambling company, Sportsbet, of in-play betting breaches during the AFL’s Brownlow medal count, as the award ceremony did not meet the definition of a “sporting event”.
“While the Brownlow medal count relates to the performance of players in sporting events, the televised presentation is not a sporting event itself, nor is the outcome of the count a contingency that happens in the course of a sporting event,” Acma said at the time.
In 2021, Tabcorp was caught accepting online in-play bets but was not fined by Acma because it said it would address the administrative error that caused the breach.
“Acma considered that the paying out of winning bets by Tabcorp was inappropriate and that all illegal bets should have been voided so that neither operators or punters benefit from prohibited activity,” Acma’s Fiona Cameron said.
