PBH ASX: Stake.com billionaires build secret position in local bookie PointsBet

Stake.com’s global business is registered in Curacao and run from Melbourne. However, Australians cannot legally play any of Stake.com’s games because customers bet with cryptocurrency. In an interview last year with The Australian, Mr Tehrani said the company would separately be applying for an Australian wagering licence.

Mr Craven, who has a fortune of $3.1 billion according to the Financial Review Rich List, and Mr Tehrani, had plans to apply for a wagering licence with the Northern Territory Racing Commission, registered their companies locally and filed trademarks for the Stake Gaming brand – a move which subsequently resulted in Federal Court action by a share trading platform with the same name.

Stake.com was established in 2017 and has grown into one of world’s largest online casinos, processing hundreds of billions of bets on sports, virtual table games and online slot machines. Early last year, Stake.com signed hip-hop megastar Drake as a brand ambassador while Kick has signed sponsorship deals with Alfa Romeo’s F1 team and the English Premier League’s Everton Football Club.

PointsBet, a Melbourne-based online bookmaker with operations overseas, is trying to increase its share of the online wagering market in Australia after selling its business in the United States to Fanatics for US$225 million ($343.2 million) earlier this year.

PointsBet shares rose sharply in 2020 when it announced plans to move into the US to capitalise on the legalisation of gambling across the country. A five-year media deal to become the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports also sent shares soaring. But rising costs and competition in the US wiped much of the value of the business.

PointsBet chief executive Sam Swanell told once the sale to Fanatics is complete.

“Our Australian operation has a strategically important place in the Australian wagering market,” Mr Swanell said at the company’s annual meeting last month. “We intend to continue to grow our online share ... from a current solid 5 per cent position.”