Bet365 tries to enter the Australian market

Bet365, one of the UK's leading bookies, has made an application for an Australian license in the hope to enter the very competitive Australian market with its online sportsbook.

Confirmation of the application can from Denise Coates, founder and joint CEO of Bet365: "I can confirm that we are in the process of applying for a license in the Northern Territory of Australia… once we have submitted the application and the regulatory authorities have had the chance to consider it, we will hopefully be in a position to comment further."

The application for an Australian license is the first application of its kind for Bet365 outside of the UK and if approved the company could start working with the Australian market by the end of the year.

The news of the application is not surprising. Bet365 have been an important player in the sports betting market in the UK and their online ventures have proved very successful since the company went online in 2000 with a variety of gambling products.

Bet365 is currently operating in over 200 countries and offers a multilingual platform. However in many of these countries it operates without a specific gambling license from that country as many countries lack proper online gambling licensing laws.

Recently Bet365 found themselves in murky waters when bwin.party complained to the French authorities that Bet365 is operating in the French market without a license. No doubt that the company wishes to avoid a similar situation in Australia so it is following proper procedure in accordance with the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

Online sports betting and betting on horseracing are legal in Australia, while online casino and online poker remain unregulated.

Land-based gambling halls and casinos operate in the country and Australians have the world's highest reported loss per gambler with over $1,200 lost per person just last year.