WTF is happening in the gambling industry?

Bit of background: In 2018, many US states were given the green light to legalise betting on major sports. And as a result, News Corp  launched a very big sports bookmaker named FOX Bet.

But now, News Corp (controlled by the Murdoch family) has decided that the US market isn't enough. They're thinking of ways to grab some market share in the Australian betting market.

The Australian betting market is big.

• Over 2.1m Aussies had a punt on sports in a 3 month period last year, according to Roy Morgan.
• Australia’s horse and sports betting market is worth $4.7 billion a year.

And just like they’ve done overseas, it's likely News Corp would partner with a betting company - who knows how the sports betting industry actually works

So what's the key learning?

If you’re a big, old traditional media company (ahem News Corp), then generally, your revenue has been declining for years. To diversify, News Corp is looking at revenue streams that actually sit outside of traditional advertising... like sports betting.

Naturally, they’re thinking, ‘hmm we already own plenty of sports broadcasting rights, and therefore we attract a lot of eye balls...so, why not leverage our existing distribution to flog sports betting too?’. Potentially a dangerous match made in heaven.