Offshore gambling operators are using the Australian Open to promote their illegal services, sparking calls for sweeping bans on the unlicensed websites.
Australian regulators and sporting professionals have expressed rising concern at the growth of offshore sites, where gamblers are not protected by Australian consumer law and have no guarantee they can withdraw their winnings.
One unlicensed offshore e-casino, Vegastars, has offered a giveaway of front row tickets to a night session of the tournament at Rod Laver Arena and a $500 flight voucher.
Australian Instagram users were among the 2,500 accounts to comment on Vegastars’ promotional post, which featured the Australian Open logo even though the tournament is not affiliated with the promotion.
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At least three more unlicensed sites have used the championship’s logo and photos of tennis stars in their social media promotions, while another 10 have advertised Australian Open-themed promotions online.
Offshore gambling companies are banned from encouraging local consumers to gamble. Vegastars’ promotion did not mention betting, but the local peak body has said Australian companies would not be permitted to run such a giveaway.
Sportsbet, Bet365, Betfair, PointsBet and Unibet are represented by Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA). Its chief executive, Kai Cantwell, said branding and giveaways could mislead consumers into believing offshore platforms were legal.
“The fact this is happening openly during Australia’s biggest sporting events shows how far enforcement is lagging behind the reality of offshore gambling,” Cantwell said.
The gaming regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), can ask internet service providers to block website access to unlicensed gambling services.
An Acma spokesperson said the regulator had found Vegastars was illegal and would request the site be blocked. It said it would also investigate each company identified by Guardian Australia.
The Vegastars website tells players: “Depositing real funds and playing for real money is subject to the laws of your country, and it is your sole responsibility to abide by your native regulations.”
Another offshore operator, Rainbet, has featured in an Instagram video promoting its live in-play betting by Australian influencer Jon Redman, which has been viewed more than 40,000 times.
Acma warned influencers against promoting illegal, unlicensed services in June. A spokesperson said Acma was investigating Redman’s conduct and had contacted Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, over the video.
Redman’s video was taken down two days after Guardian Australia contacted him. He did not respond to questions. Rainbet’s terms and conditions warn Australian users they must not use the site, but users have said they can access it with VPNs.
Acma’s spokesperson said website blocking was effective, cutting off 220 illegal services across 1,455 sites in Australia since November 2019.
Lauren Levin, a consumer advocate, said the offshore issue could be eliminated with a block on payments to and from unlicensed gambling providers, modelled on similar systems in Germany and Norway.
“It works better than the current whack-a-mole approach where Acma [blocks] an overseas URL and five minutes later the business has just changed the URL to a slightly different one,” Levin said.
A quick fix for offshore providers would allow the government to focus on the dominant local gambling industries, which account for the majority of gambling losses, Levin said.
Australians gambled $254bn in 2023-24, at a net loss of $32bn across all local gambling industries, according to a Queensland Treasury estimate.
Meanwhile, RWA-commissioned research in November estimated Australians online gambled nearly $3.9bn through offshore companies in 2024 and $7bn locally in the same period.
Vegastars and Rainbet were contacted for comment.
This article was amended on 22 January 2026 to clarify that the $32bn net Australians lost gambling was across all local gambling industries.
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