New Zealand football league faces offshore betting scrutiny
New Zealand’s amateur men’s football league has come under scrutiny for drawing the attention of offshore gambling operators.
While it once was only thought to be watched by friends, family and fans, it has been revealed that millions in wagers are placed on the matches.
Thousands of punters across Asia, South America, and Europe are betting in real time on games involving local amateur clubs such as Birkenhead United and Western Springs.
Sports Correspondent for Radio New Zealand, Dana Johannsen, told The Detail, “I was really staggered to learn that in the men’s national league – so that is our amateur competition here – huge amounts of money is being bet on this competition through these overseas gambling websites.”
She said wagers on a single game could top NZ$1 million (US$583,000)1 NZD = 0.5833 USD
2025-10-03Powered by CMG CurrenShift, with an estimated NZ$212 million (US$124 million)1 NZD = 0.5833 USD
2025-10-03Powered by CMG CurrenShift bet across a season. While no cases of match-fixing have been proven, the money flowing in raises risks.
The threat was highlighted by a recent court case in Sydney, where former All White Clayton Lewis and ex-Macarthur FC teammate Kearyn Baccus admitted taking payments to get yellow cards deliberately. Both received two-year community release orders.
Johannsen warned that underpaid players in a small league with little scrutiny remain vulnerable to manipulation, especially with the rise of microbets, such as predicting the first touch or next card.
Football New Zealand said it would continue education programs and monitoring but acknowledged the league has become a target for global betting markets.
Abi Bray brings strong researching skills to the forefront of all of her writing, whether it’s the newest slots, industry trends or the ever changing legislation across the U.S, Asia and Australia, she maintains a keen eye for detail and a passion for reporting.
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The Backstory
How offshore markets reshaped the stakes
New Zealand’s uneasy relationship with global wagering has been building for years, as low-profile competitions drew disproportionate betting interest from abroad. The turning point came as an amateur men’s football competition began drawing live wagers from Asia, South America and Europe. Estimated stakes hit NZ$212 million across a season, with single matches reportedly topping NZ$1 million in turnover, according to reporting on offshore betting in New Zealand’s amateur football. No fixing was proven, but the money exposed vulnerabilities in leagues with limited oversight and underpaid players. The rise of microbets heightened risk by creating more touchpoints for manipulation in real time.
That recognition of integrity exposure extended beyond adult amateurs. U.S. youth baseball also became a target for unregulated books, prompting a backlash after offshore operators opened lines on the Little League World Series. Regulated sportsbooks steer clear of youth contests, but companies such as BetOnline and Bovada offered daily markets, drawing condemnation from managers and the nonprofit that runs the tournament. As covered in the Little League betting controversy, critics warned that monetizing children’s performance erodes trust and can harm players. Together, these episodes underscored how offshore platforms exploit gaps in jurisdiction and policy, pulling youth and grassroots sport into global liquidity pools without a commensurate framework for integrity or community return.
Policy pivot: a ban and a monopoly
Widening concern about offshore operators skimming New Zealand customers without reinvesting locally helped drive a legislative clampdown. An amendment to the Racing Industry Act took effect June 28, prohibiting offshore sportsbooks from taking wagers from New Zealand residents and cementing TAB New Zealand’s monopoly through a long-term operating deal with Entain. Authorities estimate NZ$180 million to NZ$200 million flowed to offshore sites annually, depriving domestic sport and racing of funding. Under the new setup, Entain will pay NZ$100 million to TAB New Zealand, including NZ$20 million earmarked for Sport NZ, with the remainder spread across racing codes. The Department of Internal Affairs has warned offshore firms to withdraw or face enforcement, a move detailed in coverage of New Zealand’s offshore betting ban.
The policy aims to tackle three problems at once: integrity risks associated with unregulated markets, consumer harm where offshore platforms do not meet local standards, and financial leakage depriving national bodies of revenue. Yet centralizing the market under one operator raises questions about competition, consumer choice and accountability. The shift sets the stage for a broader reset of how online gambling proceeds are shared and how advertising is governed across platforms that reach younger audiences.
Where community funding collides with the digital pivot
The next battle is over the social contract that has long underpinned New Zealand gambling policy. Since 2003, gaming machine operators have been required to return at least 40 percent of proceeds to clubs, charities and cultural groups, a system that last year delivered NZ$345 million in grants. Critics argue the digital migration threatens that model if online operators are allowed to profit without a comparable community return. A pending online casino bill would license up to 15 offshore-based companies, levy a 12 percent gaming tax and a harm levy, and permit advertising. It would not mandate grant-style community distributions. More than 5,000 submissions urge lawmakers to embed a community-benefit obligation, warning of funding shortfalls as spend moves online.
The stakes are both financial and political. Grassroots sport depends on grants for coaches, equipment and travel. Health and social services also rely on distributions that have become woven into local budgets. Policymakers now must reconcile a modernized online regime with expectations that gambling contributes directly to public goods. If the ban on offshore sports betting recaptures revenue but new online casino rules do not extend community return, supporters fear a net erosion in funding even as overall gambling spend grows.
Advertising flashpoints and integrity risk in Australia
Nearby, Australia offers a preview of the regulatory friction ahead. Sportsbet pulled certain TV ads but promoted expanded same-game multis on the Australian Football League’s website, a move that was technically compliant but drew criticism from lawmakers and public health advocates. As detailed in scrutiny of Sportsbet’s AFL ads, federal officials had flagged tighter rules, and critics said the episode showed why self-regulation falls short. Integrity risk is intertwined with product design: same-game multis and micro-prop markets increase the number of bettable events per match, complicating oversight and heightening harm potential.
The Australian debate mirrors New Zealand’s dilemma: how to curtail harm and integrity risk without driving consumers back to offshore sites, and how to balance sport’s commercial reliance on betting partnerships with public expectations on advertising and youth exposure. The league’s reported interest in larger revenue shares from riskier bet types adds tension to the alignment of incentives between sports, bookmakers and the public.
Philippines shows the market’s speed — and its fault lines
The Philippines illustrates how quickly digital wagering can scale and how politics can whipsaw investor sentiment. The regulator reported a record PHP104.12 billion in first-quarter gross gaming revenue, up 27 percent year over year, with e-games nearly half the total, according to a PAGCOR update. Yet a Senate proposal to tighten know-your-customer rules, restrict advertising, set a PHP10,000 minimum top-up and limit common e-wallets triggered a sell-off in DigiPlus Interactive, operator of BingoPlus and ArenaPlus, as covered in analysis of the Philippine igaming bill. The Catholic Church added moral pressure, with Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David warning that legalized e-games bring casino dynamics into homes and smartphones; he criticized celebrity endorsements and uneven enforcement in a public post.
For New Zealand policymakers, the Philippine case highlights two lessons: digital migration can unlock rapid revenue growth, and public backlash can follow just as fast if consumer protections, payments oversight and messaging are misaligned. Market rules must anticipate how products will be financed and advertised, and who ultimately bears the cost of harm.
What to watch as rules tighten and money shifts
New Zealand’s ban on offshore sports betting closes a major loophole and shores up funding for sport and racing, but it does not end the fragmentation of online gambling rules. The pending online casino framework will determine whether community return principles survive the shift to digital and whether advertising standards match public expectations across TV, web and apps. Integrity risks exposed by betting on amateur and youth competitions will continue to test oversight, even as enforcement pushes offshore operators out of the local market.
If lawmakers blend monopoly control over sports betting with permissive online casino licensing, the market could split along consumer lines, complicating harm minimization. Conversely, a tighter, harmonized regime could keep spend onshore, fund community needs and reduce integrity risk. The path chosen will shape who benefits from the digital gambling economy — national sports bodies, grassroots clubs and charities, or offshore balance sheets — and how much risk fans and players are asked to accept.
