There are many online sports betting companies that have found great success in Australia, but such a highly competitive market will always have casualties.However, perhaps William Hill is not the name that one expects to hear is in trouble in the Australian market, but this appears to be the case.Australian investment bank UBS has stated that William Hill has been left somewhat behind as a result of the “fierce competition”.Data from UBS shows that William Hill has “lost market share” compared to rival Ladbrokes over the last three quarters.While Ladbrokes saw growth of 50% during the period, William Hill was less fortunate, seeing an 8% drop.
How did this happen?
UBS analyst Chris Stevens said:“The growth in Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and CrownBet over the last three years has intensified competition in the Australian online sportsbetting market, driving William Hill’s market share from 34 percent to just 12 percent (of the digital market), and net revenue flat in 2015 versus 2013 despite the market growing at around 15 percent per year.”William Hill had previously stated that their Australian and US operations “showed positive momentum”, but this does not appear to have been enough to help.
Tabcorp poach former William Hill man
Tabcorp have not been shy to poach and headhunt when they deemed it necessary, and this has continued with the hiring of former William Hill executive James Hart as the head executive director of Sun Bets, with an eye to cracking the UK sports betting market.Sun Bets is due to launch in the UK in August, two months later than originally intended but still just in time for Premier League football to kick off.Hart had headed up William Hill’s innovation department before parting ways with the company in March, 2016.