Betfair has announced it will cease its operations in New Zealand due to legislative changes in the country.
Customers have been advised that the platform’s services will end later this month, as part of amendments to the Racing Industry Act 2020.
Betfair New Zealand will be shut down, with the recent amendments meaning that it will be illegal for overseas-based companies to take bets from users within the Oceania nation.
The local market has been closed to outside interest, with the only legal betting platform now being the state-owned TAB NZ, operated by UK-based gambling giant Entain.
This arrangement creates a monopoly for TAB and its sub-brand betcha in sports betting and horse racing, with Entain signed up to a 25-year agreement including a 50/50 share of gross profits.
TAB will benefit from a minimum NZ$150 million ($90m) from the first five years of the deal, as well as an initial one-off NZ$100 million bonus.
From the end of this month, external betting websites will not be censored in New Zealand, but address verification requirements will make it very difficult for bettors to get past the new framework, even with a VPN.
Betfair shared the news of the closure in a statement to customers:
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the upcoming change and poorer user experience. Unfortunately, Betfair has to make the upcoming change to comply with the Legislative Amendment.”
New Zealand 🤝 Entain and TAB NZ.
We’re building on our presence in New Zealand with online-provided betting exclusivity in the region, adding to the existing land-based racing and sports betting offering through our TAB NZ partnership.
Announced last week as part of the… pic.twitter.com/UMnRcZM9l5
— Entain (@EntainGroup) July 7, 2025
Further changes planned for online casino
Fines of up to NZ $5m could now be issued to any betting operators that break the new laws, with strict enforcement to be carried out by New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the New Zealand Gambling Commission (NZGC).
Further change to the gambling sector in New Zealand could be on the way with the introduction of the Online Casino Gambling Bill to parliament last week.
“The Online Casino Gambling Bill will introduce a regulatory system for online gambling in New Zealand, which will prioritise harm minimisation, consumer protection, and tax collection,” said Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke van Velden.
Plans are said to include the auction of up to 15 licenses for the regulated online casino market.
Betfair New Zealand majority operator Crown Resorts has been approached for a comment by ReadWrite.
Image credit: Betfair
