Over the course of the past few years, New Zealand has seen an influx of overseas operators in its gaming market – resulting in a loss of business for local companies. Now, Kiwi politicians are planning to crack down on international betting operators in order to boost business at home. According to the New Zealand Herald, Racing Minister Nathan Guy will be working with government officials to conduct a review on international betting.
This will help to support domestic operators by determining ways in which companies based in New Zealand can reclaim business from local players. Before the international betting boom, TAB and local operators had a monopoly on the betting industry in New Zealand. While international operators are technically not permitted to offer their services to local players, they still allow Kiwi punters to place wagers with them.
They are not licensed by the local government, so they do not pay taxes to help fund various programs and initiatives across the country. "When New Zealanders place their sports and racing bets with overseas betting operators online, they operate outside of our regulatory framework," Guy says.
“This means offshore organisations make money on New Zealand racing and sports without paying their fair share of tax, or making contributions back to the racing industry or sporting organisations that make the betting possible in the first place”.
The group conducting the probe will include former Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain, NRZB Chief Executive John Allen, Sport New Zealand Chairman Sir Paul Collins and NRZB Thoroughbred Representative Greg McCarthy. They will work together to determine ways to bring betting activity back to local operators in order to boost funding for government programs.
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