Should former Labor senator Stephen Conroy have trouble sleeping this week, allow us to recommend to him the half-yearly results report from British-based bookmaker, William Hill.
One of the big take outs of the announcement from the wagering house – whose local iteration is run by Tom Waterhouse – is its stated intention to increase its advertising and marketing spend here in Australia.
The plan is to boost ad spend from 26 per cent of net revenue to 28 per cent, or about $58 million. That's a whole lot of blaring "Bet now! Bet now! Bet now!" ads on TV, in newspapers, on public transport or social media.
The news will no doubt steel the loins of Conroy, who, since quitting politics in September has taken on the top job at Responsible Wagering Australia – the cutely titled lobby group in which online bookies including CrownBet, Sportsbet, Betfair, Unibet and – yes, William Hill are stakeholders. Which seems a little bit like having your local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous brought to you by Jim Beam. But we digress.
In his first public pronouncement upon taking the job last year, Conroy vowed, among other things, to support government regulation to reduce betting houses' advertising during sports broadcasts.
We watch with interest to see how he handles this one.
Meanwhile, the other notable take out from William Hill's half-yearly results appears on slide 8 of its presentation to analysts. To wit: "Significant cost benefit from moving back office to Manila." So that's nice. They come here, pay a piddling amount to be licensed in the Northern Territory, hoover up as much punters' cash as possible, and don't even reinvest in local jobs. Outstanding!
