William Hill refuses to join gambling regulatory body

March 27, 2017 2:33 pm.by Sarah O'Brien

Bookmaker William Hill isn’t complying with Australia’s new gambling regulatory body, which will enforce the changes expected for online bookmakers in the coming weeks.

The Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) regulatory body, fronted by former Labor minister, Stephen Conroy replaced the Australian Wagering Council last year.

It represents CrownBet, Sportsbet, Bet365, Betfair and Unibet and will outline a list of requirements in order to restore the “social licence” of these sites.

This will include a ban on offering credit to gamblers, removing welcome bonuses to punters, and working to reduce gambling ads during live sport events.

But William Hill, headed by CEO Tom Waterhouse, and Ladbrokes have refused to join the RWA.

Hills has reportedly declined to agree to cut lines of credit to punters and reduce marketing costs from the current 26 cents spent on advertising and marketing for every dollar earned in revenue.

This also comes after William Hill revealed plans to increase its marketing spend in Australia as it is one of the most attractive markets in the world and one of the “largest digital gambling markets outside the UK”.

The bookmaker is yet to comment on its position but has said it was actively working to comply with Barry O’Farrell’s 2015 review of illegal offshore wagering, which prompted the Interactive Gambling Amendment bill 2016.

A spokesperson for the RWA has commented on the bookmakers refusal to get on board, questioning whether they are committed to minimising community gambling impacts.

“Our members are leading the industry and setting an example through their commitments to consumer protection, responsible gambling and harm minimisation measures,” the spokesperson said.

“This is in contrast to other operators that do not demonstrate the same commitment to working with government and other stakeholders to improve regulation and consumer protection.”

Sources have revealed the bookmakers aren’t confident about joining the RWA since the former Wagering Council failed to prevent legislation banning in-play sport betting. The legislative changes have cost operators $500,000 a week in revenue.

The RWA has also announced it will ban sign-up offers as it believes “customers should decide to join a wagering operator without a financial incentive”.

Offers are still available including a matched deposit of up to $502 at William Hill.

Regardless of the huge regulatory changes, competition to nab a share of the Australian market is still growing. CrownBet signed a huge deal with ClubsNSW to become the official digital partner.

It is threatening to challenge the TAB’s strong position in NSW, but Tabcorp are focusing on the $11 billion Tatts merger.