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The outsourcing arrangement would see Entain provide “most of the TAB NZ’s functions through a newly established, New Zealand-based subsidiary of Entain”.
The Problem Gambling Foundation says its concerns over an arrangement that would see the TAB outsource its betting operations to British gambling giant Entain have been heightened by a UK news report.
The TAB announced in March that it intended to partner with Entain for 25 years to provide its betting and broadcasting services, under a deal that would need to be approved by Racing Minister Kieran McAnulty.
The Guardian newspaper reported last week that gambling business Coral, which is now owned by Entain, had “allegedly paid blogs advising new mothers to recommend its online casino games and link to its website”, prior to its acquisition by Entain in 2018.
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The newspaper said the tactic had been condemned as “predatory” by leading mental health and addiction experts.
It reported that one post, ostensibly about baby food recipes, read: “If as a mum you can’t leave the house, then why not consider bingo online? You can click here to play bingo online at Coral – this momentary break from childcare can prove beneficial”.
The Guardian said the blogs remained online at the time of its report but that Entain had said it would try to have them removed.
Even though the parenting posts reported by The Guardian were allegedly paid for by Coral a few years prior to its acquisition by Entain, and not by Entain itself, Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Andree Froude said they had increased its concerns about the TAB outsourcing deal.
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The foundation has previously noted that Entain was fined £17 million (NZ$34m) by the UK Gambling Commission last year for what the commission described as “completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer-gambling failures”.
It also noted that it had been fined for two rule breaches in Australia that saw it encourage heavy gamblers to start betting with its Ladbrokes business by offering them incentives to open betting accounts, in one case setting up an account for a gambler without their knowledge or permission.
Froude said the Problem Gambling Foundation had a meeting scheduled on June 1 with McAnulty at which it expected to talk through its concerns about the outsourcing deal.
“The fines they have accrued just don’t paint a picture of an organisation that is going to put harm minimisation at the heart of what they do,” she said.
Entain has not responded to a request from Stuff for information on when it first became aware of the posts paid for by Coral, and when it first requested they be taken down.
But it said earlier this month that it very much respected groups such as the Problem Gambling Foundation.
“As TAB NZ has done, our plan will be to foster a meaningful relationship with them should ministerial approval be forthcoming,” it said in relation to the outsourcing deal.
“We are proud of our record and commitment to player protection and safer gambling and that will be a cornerstone of our approach in New Zealand as well.”
It has previously said it has improved its practices and investments since the events that led to the UK and Australian fines.
McAnulty continued to make positive comments about the outsourcing deal on Monday.
“I am confident that Entain’s size and scale will allow TAB NZ to provide better harm minimisation than the status quo,” he said.
“I also note that the partnership will not prevent the Government from further regulation for harm minimisation and I have been clear with TAB NZ that I intend to do this.”
The outsourcing arrangement would see Entain provide “most of the TAB NZ’s functions through a newly established, New Zealand-based subsidiary of Entain”, McAnulty said.
However, he said TAB NZ would remain “as the entity responsible for all statutory functions and for managing the contract with the operator”.
The Overseas Investment Office said it did not appear to have received an application from either Entain or the TAB for the partnership agreement.
It was unable to clarify whether it might need to approve the transaction, saying there was “insufficient publicly available information available to make an assessment of whether or not consent is required”, deferring questions to the Treasury, which has been contacted for comment.