Endeavour Group, the hotels and liquor spin-off of Woolworths, could take a larger share of the Australian $14-billion poker machine market following the announcement that Crown Resorts and The Star Entertainment move to cashless gambling services.
The gambling regulator of New South Wales – the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority – has revealed that cashless gaming is set to become obligatory at the venues of the two aforementioned casino giants. Both Crown Resorts and The Star Entertainment have agreed to implement special electronic gaming cards linked to players’ identities and bank accounts as part of the efforts to tackle money laundering. Despite the measure is still not available in other Australian states, they are expected to follow suit implement cashless payments, too.
As confirmed by an ILGA spokeswoman for The Australian Financial Review, the proposed move applied only to the operations of Crown Resorts and The Star Entertainment and came to directly respond to some issues that Commissioner Bergin identified in her report. Also, it was a separate issue to local pubs- and clubs-based poker machines.
If the Government of the state adopts a voluntary regime for the introduction of cashless gaming cards and poker machines, Endeavour Group is likely to consume part of the market share from Crown Resorts and The Star.
Woolworths’ Spin-Off Backs Implementation of Voluntary Cashless Gambling Options
There is also a chance that the NSW Government adopts a mandatory regime for the implementation of cashless payments. In that case, the earnings generated by Endeavour Group are expected to suffer a massive blow that is to affect the value of the company after the demerger.
Currently, the hotels and liquor spin-off of Woolworths is the third-largest gaming operator on the territory of Australia and the biggest poker machine owner, holding a total of 12,364 machines in 293 hotels across the country. Reportedly, the company backs the voluntary digital wallet regime, such as the one proposed by ClubsNSW, rather than the one that would make cashless payments mandatory.
Both Woolworths and Endeavour have shared the risks of implementing some changes to the regulation of the electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in demerger documents that they sent to their customers a week ago. As written in the demerger document, politicians and interest groups have made a few proposals seeking to tackle gambling-related harm by enhancing responsible gaming measures associated with the use of so-called poker machines.
The proposals that are hoped to eliminate cash transactions by the implementation of gaming cards and digital wallets, however, could result in increased regulatory restrictions on facilities that host electronic gaming machines and reduce such venues’ financial performance.
Endeavour Group refused to make any further comments on the situation. The company has made a submission to the NSW Government’s gaming machine inquiry, saying it backs the voluntary implementation of cashless options.
- Author
Olivia Cole
