News Corp Increases Share Holding in Betr

Rupert Murdoch’s media company in Australia, News Corporation, has upped its stake in Matthew Tripp’s fast-growing bookmaker betr to almost 50%.

New Investment of AUD 50 Million in Matthew Tripp’s Betr

The Australian Financial Review reported that the partnership between News Corp, Matthew Tripp’s BetMakers Technology Group, and Las Vegas-based Tekkorp Capital, which created Australia’s latest online sportsbook betr (not to be mistaken with Jake Paul’s micro-betting mobile app, which is also called the same but with a capital “B”), is expanding.

A new capital injection of AUD 50 million ($33.9 million) was put into Australia’s betr, which is the latest sports betting project of Matthew Tripp targeted at audiences below 35 years of age. This means that Murdoch’s Australian media company now owns half of the new sports betting venture.

Betr was launched at the beginning of October just ahead of the Spring Racing Carnival. It is a venture involving three companies News Corp, BetMakers Technology Group, and Tekkorp Capital, which initially held equal stakes in the new sports wagering business. 

The company was founded back in April this year and the three companies’ initial investment in it was AUD 12.5 million ($8.5 million).

Currently, both News Corp and Tripp’s BetMakers Technology Group have upped their stakes to 47% each, following a new investment of AUD 50 million ($33.9 million). It seems that Tekkorp Capital, however, decided to sit this investment round out, which means that its stake in the company has diminished to a mere 4.5%

It must be noted that News Corp has acquired betr shares for a lower price than the other two companies, which means that it paid AUD 4.5 million ($3 million) less. 

The companies have not revealed any details on why that is. However, it is very likely due to the significant promotion benefits News Corp is bringing in with its wide range of available advertising channels via its newspapers and news websites.  

Successful Launch Marketing Campaign Initiates Regulator Investigation

Betr launched strong in October with a campaign, which offered punters 100-1 odds for a limited period and with a cap of AUD 10 ($7). Customers are still streaming in with some of them using the offer to place bets on the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

However, the offer did not only bring in plenty of bettors to the new sportsbook. It also became the cause of an investigation by the gambling regulator Liquor and Gaming New South Wales. 

The regulator is probing betr as the new sportsbook’s marketing campaign in News Corp newspapers may be breaching legislative rules, which prohibit advertising that induces people to gamble. The probe is still ongoing.