Tabcorp has recommitted itself to delivering a national betting pool in Australia in the 2026 financial year.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan said the wagering and gaming company was seeking to deliver a national totalisator (tote), combining state‑level pools into a larger pool across multiple jurisdictions.
“We’re engaging with state racing bodies, and I remain optimistic we can make a National Tote a reality in FY26,” he told the annual general meeting (AGM).
“This will be good for industry, good for customers and it will be good for TAB.”
Australia operates three major tote pools: SuperTAB (Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory and others), NSW and UTAB (Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory).
It is unclear how large a combined pool would be, but estimates put turnover at tens of billions of dollars a year.
Tabcorp completed foundational work in FY25 to advance the creation of a national tote, including obtaining in-principle support from principal racing authorities and key regulatory stakeholders.
The aim is to improve liquidity, stabilise dividends for punters, strengthen the tote offering and support the racing industry’s funding model.
Combining the state totes would help to address the decline in revenue through the tote from the three racing codes over the last decline, which in turn affects funding of racing.
A tote is a pari‑mutuel pool where all bets are combined, the operator takes a margin, and the remaining pool size is divided among winners.
Tabcorp (ASX: TAH) shares were trading 0.3 cents lower at $1.05 at the time of writing, capitalising the company at $2.40 billion.
