Sky TV Launches New Interactive Betting Service

Sky Television Launches New Interactive Betting Service

SkyBet - a new interactive betting service - officially launched today, allowing SKY Digital and TAB customers to place bets through their televisions at home.

Through SkyBet customers can place bets on horse racing, as well as sports including rugby, soccer and rugby league.

SKY Chief Executive John Fellet and TAB Transition General Manager Jim Leach said today that the service was available at no extra cost to all customers who had SKY Digital and a TAB account.

“SkyBet is really easy to use,” Mr Fellet said. “All customers need is a TAB account and their SKY remote. They don’t have to leave the room, they don’t have to make a call – they don’t even have to leave their armchair.”

Mr Leach said SkyBet had been developed by Holotype New Media in conjunction with SKY and the TAB over the past two years and had been fully operational for the past two weeks as a trial. “We think it’s a great new sales channel that allows racing and sports fans to have a punt on the race or game they’re going to watch.

“Already there’s been over $40,000 worth of sales through SkyBet, and that’s just through people finding the service on SKY and through word-of-mouth.”

SkyBet can be accessed through either the interaction key on the SKY remote or channel 210 for sport or 214 for Trackside. Different events and bet types can then be selected following on-screen instructions and using the remote. Race bets are limited to win, place and each-way with the service available on the next scheduled race. SkyBet automatically updates the race and field details. Sports bets provide similar standard choices and there is a $100 limit on each bet.

SkyBet, the first service of its kind in Australasia, works through information being transferred from the SKY decoder, via a telephone line, to the TAB’s central Jetbet computer system. However, there are no extra phone or account charges for using SkyBet, the only cost is the amount of the bet actually placed.
Mr Fellet said SkyBet provided a great opportunity for fans to “have something on it” when they were tuning in to watch the races or sports events. “We think it’s going to be a great service for people who want to have some extra fun.”

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