Betr Pays Out Record $40 Million in Winnings After Penrith’s Grand Final Victory
Betr, the betting agency backed by News Corp, is currently in the process of paying out a staggering $40 million in bets following Penrith’s victorious grand final performance on Sunday, marking a potential Australian record in sports betting history.
Earlier this year, Betr stirred up considerable controversy with its highly publicised launch campaign, offering odds of 100-1 on the Melbourne Cup, an action that triggered regulatory intervention and resulted in a record-breaking fine of $210,000.
The company also extended the 100-1 odds offering to this weekend’s NRL and AFL grand finals, featuring Penrith and Collingwood as the respective favourites. Bets were restricted to a maximum of $10 per customer. The response was overwhelming, with tens of thousands of wagers placed on Penrith, who were aiming for their third consecutive NRL premiership victory.
Following Ivan Cleary’s team’s triumph on Sunday evening, Betr is now in the process of disbursing the astonishing sum of $40 million to its customers. This payout is believed to be the largest in Australian betting history, and the company anticipates that the payment process will take up to a week. While it remains unclear how much Betr will have to pay out for Collingwood’s AFL grand final win, it is expected to be significantly lower than the NRL payout.
Matt Tripp, the founder of Betr and a bookmaker, shared with Nine newspapers that despite the substantial payouts, the agency still anticipates making a profit from its broader launch campaign, which featured similarly enhanced odds across a range of sports, not limited to the NRL.
“The important thing to note, with that launch campaign, we had always anticipated it would cost us somewhere between $50 million and $80 million, depending on how the results fell. But from the 320,000 customers we have acquired through running that campaign, the gross profit we have generated from those customers alone is $225 million”, Tripp stated.
Before the Sunday final, Tripp emphasised that the primary aim of this deal was to attract customers who would continue to place bets on other sporting events, including racing.
He explained, “Everyone is out there saying ‘Penrith will kill them’, but nothing would make me happier if we’re paying out tens of millions of dollars on Penrith because it gives tens of thousands of punters an opportunity to reinvest at the start of the spring carnival.”
In April, Betr faced a record fine of $210,000 for promoting its 100-1 odds across affiliated newspapers, radio, and television stations during its launch last year. The company extended these odds to every horse in the Melbourne Cup, provided the bets were below $10. Similar offers were also made for the NRL, AFL, and Cox Plate.
Betr decided to halt its advertising campaign when approached by the New South Wales regulator last year. Their choice to pay the fine without contesting it helped them avoid a potentially protracted legal battle.
“We offered and advertised the $100-1 Melbourne Cup market in accordance with the law and entirely consistent with the guidance published by Liquor and Gaming NSW which clearly indicated this conduct was legal,” a Betr spokesperson said at the time.
“Whilst we cooperated fully with Liquor and Gaming, we do not accept, and have made no admissions to breaching NSW law. Our decision not to challenge the penalty notices was made to resolve the matter amicably.”
Customers will need to exercise patience as Tripp has indicated that handling the sheer volume of bets will require some time. Rest assured, the company has committed to ensuring that all winnings will be deposited into customer accounts by no later than 5pm on October 6th.
