PointsBet has asked the Australian government to cut off the payment channels used by illegal offshore bookmakers and to remove unlicensed gambling ads faster. Group CEO Andrew Catterall put the proposals to shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.
He wants banks and payment providers checked so that transfers from Australians to unlicensed operators can be blocked. Canada and New Zealand offer models that work, he said: Canadian data providers are barred from serving the black market, while New Zealand steers players to licensed sites. PointsBet also wants tighter limits on Australian influencers who take commissions from offshore bookmakers for promoting them.
Catterall puts the offshore market at about 30% of the legal one, and growing faster. PointsBet's own tax and fee load reaches 50% of revenue, a burden offshore operators do not carry. He warned that the gambling advertising reform package already passed by parliament could end up strengthening illegal operators. 'The model for licensed bookmakers will get harder and more expensive,' he said, and called for regulators to be given the resources to go after offshore.
PointsBet has already pulled back on advertising. In 2025 it ended sponsorship deals with the NRL clubs Manly and Cronulla and trimmed TV spending. At the meeting, shareholders raised VIP account controls after senate hearings; Catterall said account managers' spending would be monitored and calls with clients recorded.
