Tabcorp today announced that it achieved $1 billion in Internet sales in racing and sports betting in 2006/07 - the first time it has hit the mark in a financial year.

A total of $1.012 billion was wagered on racing and sports events through Tabcorp’s online wagering service (www.tab.com.au), delivering 23.5% year-on-year growth.

Of the more than $1 billion, $827 million was wagered on racing (thoroughbred, harness and greyhound) and $185 million on sports such as NRL, AFL, soccer and tennis.

Internet sales now account for more than 11% of all Tabcorp turnover on racing and sports (up from 9.5% in 2005/06). The remainder of sales are through TAB outlets (via 2700 agencies, pubs and clubs in NSW and Victoria), at NSW and Victorian racetracks through on-course totalisators and through telephone betting.

“Achieving $1 billion in wagering sales through the Internet in 2006/07 demonstrates that consumers continue to embrace the speed and convenience of online betting,” said Tabcorp’s Managing Director of Wagering, Robert Nason.

“We have driven rapid sales growth through the Internet and it continues to be our fastest growing distribution channel.

“81 million individual racing and sports bets were placed through the Internet in 2006/07.”

As Australia’s largest wagering operator, Tabcorp’s aim is to offer the premium Internet offering to its customers.

“Internet betting is a key element of our strategy to create a strong wagering platform for growth,” Mr Nason said.

“We will continue to enhance our online wagering presence so that we continue to give our customers access to all the content they need to place bets and deliver better functionality, speed and quality of information.”

Key features of Internet wagering through www.tab.com.au in 2006/07 include:
- The average time spent by account holders per website visit is 19 minutes.
- There were 810 million page views of www.tab.com.au in 2006/07.
- The biggest day of the year was Melbourne Cup day when more than 550,000 individuals visited the TAB website, viewing 13.7 million pages and spending an average of 25 minutes per visit. At its peak, the website was handling 42,000 concurrent users.
- The top five racing bet types for Internet account holders on www.tab.com.au are Win, Trifecta, Each Way, Quinella and Quaddie.
- The top five sports betting events (excluding racing) on www.tab.com.au were Australian Open Men’s Final, NRL State of Origin 1, NRL State of Origin 2, NRL Grand Final and FA Cup Final.

www.tab.com.au is Australia’s most popular sports and racing betting website, which was acknowledged at the HitWise Australia Online Performance Awards earlier this year.

Tabcorp has 400,000 account customers of which 140,000 have Internet-enabled TAB accounts.

The unique services and products offered by www.tab.com.au include:
- live streaming of Sky Channel;
- more bet types than any other provider;
- largest betting pools in the country;
- audio replay service through 2KY/Sport 927 race calls;
- more detailed form than any other wagering provider; and
- dedicated Help Centre linked to Tabcorp’s telephone betting service.

Tabcorp offers Internet wagering to registered TAB account holders, based on the Terms and Conditions of Use for Internet Betting. Tabcorp has an ongoing commitment to the responsible service of wagering and the highest levels of customer care.

For more information contact:
Nicholas Tzaferis
Media Relations Manager, Tabcorp
tzaferisn@tabcorp.com.au
Tel: (03) 9868 2529