TAB’s website gets makeover

The TAB has turned on a new betting website – powered by two of Europe’s biggest betting giants – that offers gambling on many more sporting events at better odds than it previously provided.

NZ Racing Board chief executive John Allen said the new service was a ‘‘game changer’’ that marked a new era for the board, which owns the TAB, enabling it to deliver ‘‘a more compelling betting experience’’.

‘‘We estimate this initiative alone will increase returns to the industry by $17 million to $19m in annualised profit, rising to approximately a $30m increase in net betting profit as a result of the change from 2021/22.’’

But the change has had a couple of unexpected consequences.

Australian company Pagemaster said it might not be able to compile race results for newspapers owned by

Stuff for a ‘‘couple of days’’ because the software it used to glean results from the TAB’s website no longer works. Pagemaster production manager Kate Bromley said the TAB had not given it any notice of the change.

NZ Racing Board spokesman Ian Long said some Spark customers had also experienced difficulties accessing the new website and app yesterday afternoon, though those issues had now been resolved.

The TAB decided in 2017 to ditch its own fixed-odds betting platform and instead license a system supplied by Britain’s OpenBet at a cost of about $40m. The move was driven by fears the TAB was falling behind the services offered by overseas providers such as Ladbrokes and Paddy Power Betfair.

Although the TAB notionally has a monopoly on sports betting in New Zealand, it has been leaking business overseas as punters turn to the larger overseas websites that provide a fuller service and have more scale.