Loophole Lets Offshore Operators Push AO Bets

Offshore gambling operators are taking advantage of the Australian Open to promote their illegal services, raising concerns among regulators and industry groups about how easy it is for unlicensed platforms to reach Australian players.

These sites operate outside Australian law, meaning players have no consumer protections and no guarantee they can withdraw winnings. 

The Loophole That Makes It Possible

Apparently, a loophole in the country’s gambling rules is allowing offshore betting sites that are illegal for domestic players to promote bets related to the iconic tennis tournament, raising fresh alarm among industry groups and regulators. 

One of the more visible operators who was quick to take advantage of it is Vegastars. The company ran a giveaway offering front-row tickets to a night session at Rod Laver Arena and a $500 flight voucher. 

The promotion even used the Australian Open logo, despite the tournament having no connection to the offer. As expected, their post drew a lot of attention on Instagram, gathering roughly 2,500 Australian accounts commenting. 

At least three other offshore platforms have used similar tactics, featuring tournament logos and images of top tennis players, while around 10 more have run Australian Open-themed promotions online.

Even though Vegastars’ giveaway did not directly reference betting, Australian law prohibits offshore companies from encouraging local consumers to gamble. 

“Enforcement Is Lagging Behind the Reality”

Kai Cantwell, chief executive of Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA), which represents Sportsbet, Bet365, Betfair, PointsBet, and Unibet, warned that branding and giveaways could mislead Australians into thinking these operators are legitimate.

“The fact this is happening openly during Australia’s biggest sporting events shows how far enforcement is lagging behind the reality of offshore gambling,” Cantwell said.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed, through one of its spokespersons, that Vegastars was illegal and said the regulator would request the site be blocked. 

The agency is also investigating other offshore operators identified by Guardian Australia.

Vegastars’ website even notes that “depositing real funds and playing for real money is subject to the laws of your country, and it is your sole responsibility to abide by your native regulations.”

Another operator, Rainbet, promoted its live in-play betting via Australian influencer Jon Redman in an Instagram video that has been viewed more than 40,000 times. 

ACMA is investigating Redman’s post and has contacted Meta, Instagram’s parent company. Rainbet’s terms warn Australian users not to use the site, but players can still access it with VPNs.

“Better Than the Current Whack-a-Mole Approach”

Since November 2019, ACMA has blocked 220 illegal gambling services across 1,455 sites in Australia. Consumer advocate Lauren Levin says the offshore problem could be solved more effectively by blocking payments to and from unlicensed providers, a system already in use in Germany and Norway.

“It works better than the current whack-a-mole approach where ACMA [blocks] an overseas URL and five minutes later the business has just changed the URL to a slightly different one,” Levin said.

These types of measures could enable regulators to focus on local gambling industries, which currently rule over Australian gambling losses. In 2023-2024, Australians gambled $254 billion usinglocal platforms and lost $32 billion (net), say Queensland Treasury estimates.

In parallel, RWA research speaks of domestic players gambling nearly $3.9 billion online using offshore companies in 2024 and $7 billion locally.