Tabcorp set to acquire stake in fast-growing Dabble
The betting giant launched a new app as part of a push to improve its digital strategy. Acquiring a stake in a fast-growing social betting platform is set to be its next move.
Tabcorp is in discussions to buy a stake in emerging social betting business Dabble, as part of a strategic revamp of digital wagering.
The Australian has learnt that Tabcorp is finalising a deal with Dabble, a Melbourne business that is be one of the fastest growing betting outfits in the country.
Dabble combines wagering offerings with social functions seen on Twitter and WhatsApp, and gives customers the ability to copy bets that have been placed by friends or others they follow.
The company was founded in late 2020 and is run by chief executive Tom Rundle, a former chief operating officer at Pointsbet and head of product at CrownBet. It has offices in Darwin – where it is licenced – and in Brisbane, Adelaide and Albury.
Dabble also has more than 100,000 registered users and was the second most downloaded Australian sports betting app in April this year, according to a LinkedIn post by chief strategy officer Jonathan Robin, a former PwC Australia consultant.
In a recent note to clients, Taylor Collison analyst Andrew Orbach said the Dabble app was one of the most downloaded in August and early September outside of big-name groups like Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and Tabcorp.
Mr Orbach estimated that smaller companies like Dabble made up about 11 per cent of betting app downloads, with Dabble accounting for about 79 per cent of the 21,000 downloads in its category in August. “We continue to see this segment of the market growing over the next 24 months,” Mr Orbach said.
Former Collingwood AFL footballer Heath Shaw is a Dabble investor, documents filed with the corporate regulator show.
Tabcorp has been under pressure to remain relevant with digital customers after rejecting a number of takeover approaches last year and instead opting to spin off its lotteries business into a separate company.
New Tabcorp chief executive Adam Rytenskild has stressed to investors that Tabcorp is focusing more intently on its digital offerings to punters, which included launching a new app just before the AFL grand final last month and in time for the most important section of the Spring Racing Carnival in Victoria this month and early November.
“I want us to be different as a company. We are loosening the handcuffs a bit and we want our culture to be about transforming and changing,” Mr Rytenskild recently told The Australian.
“It is more than just an app, it is a whole new digital foundation for us. It will allow us to change our product more quickly and provide updates to our customers more quickly.”
Sources have indicated that Tabcorp would tap into Dabble’s social betting expertise to further improve its app and digital wagering strategies.
A pre-Christmas update of the new TAB app will include a social “betting with mates” feature and a same-race multi feature.
In August, Tabcorp said it accounted for about a quarter of the market for digital betting revenue in Australia. That compares to Sportsbet’s parent company Flutter Entertainment, listed in London, which has previously claimed a market share of about 50 per cent in Australia.
Tabcorp would not confirm talks with Dabble. In a statement, a Tabcorp spokesman said: “There has been no change to our business. The market is advised of all material changes first.”
Tabcorp shares rose 3.5c, or 3.8 per cent, to close at 96c.
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