International competitors Paddy Power, William Hill and bet365 have set their sights on Australian punters and they seem serious about making further inroads...

International competitors Paddy Power, William Hill and bet365 have set their sights on Australian punters and they seem serious about making further inroads into the Australian wagering market. It appears James Packer is also interested with Crown Resorts reportedly mulling over its own plans through full ownership of Betfair. Most analysts seem pretty sanguine about all this and continue to view domestic players in the wagering industry, Tabcorp and Tatts, as relatively robust players in a transitioning market. However, analysts at CIMB are talking structural channel shift in addition to significant loss of market share for the local players and this explains why they have become much more cautious. Investors are clearly preferring Tabcorp over Tatts, with the latter share price now in a downtrend. It can take a while before such changes in competition make their mark, but from a certain point onwards things can move very fast.