Offshore gambling operators using Australian Open to promote illegal services | Australian Open
Offshore gambling operators are using the Australian Open to promote their illegal services, leading to calls for blanket bans of unlicensed websites.
Australian regulators and sports professionals have expressed growing concern about the growth of offshore sites where gamblers are not protected by Australian consumer law and have no guarantee they will be able to withdraw their winnings.
Vegastars, an unlicensed offshore e-casino, gave away front row tickets and a $500 flight voucher for the tournament’s night session at Rod Laver Arena.
Australian Instagram users were among 2,500 accounts who commented on Vegastars’ promotional post, which featured the Australian Open logo, despite the tournament having no connection to the promotion.
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At least three other unlicensed sites used the championship’s logo and photos of tennis stars in social media promotions, while 10 others advertised Australian Open-themed promotions online.
Offshore gambling companies are prohibited from encouraging local consumers to gamble. There was no mention of betting in Vegastars’ promotion, but the local peak body said Australian companies would not be allowed to organize such a giveaway.
Sportsbet, Bet365, Betfair, PointsBet and Unibet are represented by Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA). The company’s CEO, Kai Cantwell, said branding and giveaways can mislead consumers into believing offshore platforms are legal.
“The fact that this is clearly happening during Australia’s biggest sporting events shows how far enforcement has fallen behind the reality of offshore gambling,” Cantwell said.
Gaming regulator Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) may ask internet service providers to block websites from accessing unlicensed gambling services.
An Acma spokesman said the regulator had found Vegastars to be illegal and would request the site be blocked. It also said it would investigate every company identified by Guardian Australia.
The Vegastars website tells players: “Depositing and playing for real money is governed by the laws of your country and it is your sole responsibility to comply with local regulations.”
Another offshore operator, Rainbet, was featured in an Instagram video by Australian influencer Jon Redman promoting its live in-play betting, which has been viewed more than 40,000 times.
Acma warned influencers not to promote illegal, unlicensed services in June. A spokesperson said Acma was investigating Redman’s behavior and contacted Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, over the video.
Redman’s video was removed two days after Guardian Australia contacted him. He did not answer the questions. Rainbet’s terms and conditions warn Australian users not to use the site, but users have said they can access the site through VPNs.
A spokesperson for Acma said the website blocking was effective and that 220 illegal services had been disrupted across 1,455 sites in Australia since November 2019.
Consumer advocate Lauren Levin said the offshoring problem could be eliminated by blocking payments to and from unlicensed gambling providers, modeled on similar systems in Germany and Norway.
“It works better than the current whack-a-mole approach that Acma is taking. [blocks] Levin said he had an offshore URL and five minutes later the business changed the URL to a slightly different URL.
Levin said a quick fix for offshore providers would allow the government to focus on the dominant domestic gambling industries that account for the majority of gambling losses.
Australians gambled $254bn in 2023-24, including offshore and onshore companies, with a net loss of $32bn, Queensland Treasury estimates.
Meanwhile, Research commissioned by RWA In November, it was estimated that Australians would gamble around $3.9 billion through offshore companies in 2024, and $7 billion locally in the same period.
Vegastars and Rainbet have been contacted for comment.
