The ugly departure of Tabcorp’s CEO leaves his successor with myriad problems, from the end of the pandemic punting boom to a potential advertising ban and cultural issues.
The next CEO will inherit a company that is widely seen as the gaming sector’s legacy laggard, the long-term incumbent that has struggled to keep up with a pack of agile online competitors who have picked away at its market share for two decades.Under Rytenskild and predecessor David Attenborough, the company has made a series of investments in its digital capabilities that analysts believe have gone some way to closing the technology advantage of competitors.
That’s tough at the best of times, but those inside the gambling sector say things have turned very tough, very quickly in the first few months of 2024, as cost-of-living pressures have started to bite.The pandemic punting boom, which masked several issues of sustainability in the sector, is over. Turnover is down , average bet sizes are down, and cost pressures are mounting.
In the view of some analysts, Tabcorp’s best hope is that it can hold its ground while online bookies are held back.favour the players with the largest existing customer bases Tabcorp has won agreements with most states to increase taxes on online bookies , including via a deal agreed with the Victorian government earlier this year. But negotiations with NSW about a new agreement will now likely stall with Rytenskild’s departure.