Tabcorp’s Sun Bets is a platform towards global expansion

st UK-based companies have swamped the Australian market, Tabcorp now wants to play the UK bookies at their own game. Australian gambling giant Tabcorp Holdings Inc has named Sun Bets, as the biggest international commercial initiative undertaken in the firm’s history.

Officially launched in August last year, the strategic joint-venture with News UK created a new online wagering and gaming business in the UK and Ireland.

The AUS$20m Sun Bets project utilises Tabcorp’s existing fixed odds and customer wallet technology, alongside its digital offerings, as well as integrated Playtech Casino software for bingo and gaming content.

Speaking to ITNews Australia, the project lead for Sun Bet’s platform Tabcorp CIO, Kim Wenn detailed that Tabcorp has created a team of 188, entirely dedicated to the platform’s development and delivery.

Wenn comments: “This is very much about building something that is scalable, transferable and on our own software. So while establishing a profitable business in the UK is important, it’s also about building more capability. “

“Sun Bets is about extending the organisation beyond its traditional boundaries and pushing our digital team in terms of how we build products and thing about betting,” Wenn adds.

“This led to us effectively building a new business platform that underpinned the Sun Bets website, including providing every technology solution to manage the business by expanding current capabilities or acquiring new ones.”

Moving forward, the Sun Bets portal will seek to leverage a mass audience generated from UK news source TheSun.co.uk which is in the global top 20 for news and entertainment. Although it’s Tabcorp’s first foray into online games and live betting, the company is expecting to make money with Sun Bets within the next five years.