Upping the ante

The new dominance of online betting

Featured in

  • Published 20230801
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-86-3
  • Extent: 200pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

‘WELCOME TO SPORTSBET.’ This message appears on my phone screen immediately after I set up my first online betting account at home one afternoon. The process is much simpler than I expected. It takes me less than two minutes to download the free Sportsbet mobile app, submit my personal details for instant verification and deposit the first funds into my digital betting wallet. I decline the option of setting a betting limit and proceed to the homepage. 

One of nearly forty online betting companies currently operating in Australia – many of which are based in the Northern Territory for historical tax purposes – Sportsbet is a household name these days, as recognisable as Qantas and Vegemite. Now owned by the UK-based global gambling behemoth Flutter Entertainment, it has grown into Australia’s biggest online betting company since it was established in Darwin in 1993: it now has more than one million Australian customers, a current market value of $12 billion to $14 billion, and nearly a 50 per cent share of the national online betting market. 

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

More from author

Into the void

Non-fictionI think with a little fear, as I often do, of the many other (and much larger) creatures whose natural territory this is, and scan the surrounding water for any dark, fast-moving shadows. But soon I relax and settle into the rhythm of my freestyle stroke. Breathe. Pull. Pull. Pull. Breathe. Pull. Pull. Pull. Breathe.

More from this edition

A night at the theatre

FictionAt the end of the play, I remain in my seat, as to stand would risk such a huge amount of pain and blood loss I am not sure I would survive. Having been allocated this ‘best available seat’ I don’t know how to leave. The actors smile in a strained way as they take their curtain call and each of them casts an eye at me. I make them uncomfortable, perched as I am on these horns. Stuck as I am while the rest of the audience applauds and exits.

History in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

Poetry Because they spawn near each otherdiscover one another’s dog-scoutsSparta and Gandhi are contemporariesthe Eurotas river and the Gangesmuddying into the Indian Ocean, barbariantriremes appearing...

Lying on grass

FictionJamie wishes he could be more like Todd. Not because Todd’s excellent, but because he figures out what he wants and does it. As they pull out bits and pieces from the skip to build their drum sets, Jamie thinks about how he wants to be free, but doesn’t know if that’s something a person can ‘do’. After a while they’ve constructed two sets side by side at the front of the driveway. They’re not buckets, tins or lids: they’re tom drums, snare drums and cymbals.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.