Horseracing would be expected to grow popular in a colony populated primarily by British people. It began in 1835, with the arrival of the first thoroughbred horse in New Zealand in 1840. Horse racing is supposed to have started in the military barracks, with soldiers competing with their own horses and their officers serving as officials. It immediately became a tremendously popular recreational activity for residents, with races being conducted in Aukland, Nelson, Wellington, Otago, and Cantebury as part of the first anniversary celebrations.
However, by the late 1870s, the sport had grown to become the country’s most popular recreational pleasure, with audiences of up to 30,000 people flocking to big race meets. People from all walks of life came, seeing it as an opportunity to come out and have a good time while also having the chance to make a fortune! As a result, sports betting was born in New Zealand. The addition of totalisators to race circuits boosted the sport’s appeal even more. These machines were created to calculate the total amount of bets placed on a specific race and then distribute the rewards to the bettors. The betting portion of the races has been dominated by bookies up to that period.
New Zealand’s Sports Gambling Obstacle
Protestant Church groups began to exert pressure on the government to prohibit gambling toward the end of the nineteenth century. This culminated in the Gambling Act of 1908, which virtually outlawed all gambling save horse racing and allowed punters to place bets only when they were physically present at the event. People devised ways to get past the legislation, mostly with the help of bookies, because horse racing was one of the most popular recreational activities at the time.
Although bookies were prohibited from working at racetracks, many of them set up shop behind false fronts, renting rooms and communicating with each other and track insiders via telephone and radio. This enabled them to place wagers on behalf of their customers from afar, resulting in a burgeoning underground industry. The rule stipulated that bets could only be placed if the punter was present at the race, but bookies exploited this by placing bets on behalf of their customers from all across the country.
In New Zealand, sports betting is regulated.
By 1951, the government had discovered that it was missing out on a significant amount of money and had established the first Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) to oversee the sector. Originally, all TABs were owned by the government, but they have since been privatized. TAB’s establishment substantially ended the impact of illegal bookies on sports betting in New Zealand.
Today’s Sports Betting in New Zealand
Despite the fact that TAB regulates sports betting in New Zealand, numerous forms of gambling have remained prohibited over time. Amendments to the laws were enacted gradually but steadily, and the first casinos opened in the 1990s. TAB allowed fixed odds and sports betting in 1996, which was followed by TAB allowing fixed odds and sports betting in 1997. Despite the fact that the New Zealand Racing Board has a monopoly on most internet betting in the country, there are over 640 different TAB facilities across the country that provide wagers on rugby, cricket, and even sheep shearing!
New Zealand’s Sports Betting Future
With the rate at which technology advances these days, the internet is the future of Sports Betting in New Zealand. The New Zealand government has stated that it will not allow any further online operators, however it does not prohibit offshore sites. As a sportsbettor, this means that as long as you have an internet connection, you can choose from a variety of the greatest international sports betting sites in the globe.
