Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with TopBetta Holdings Limited (ASX:TBH) Managing Director, Todd Buckingham Clive Tompkins: Hello Clive Tompkins reporting for the Finance News Network. Joining me from Australian-based wagering company TopBetta Holdings Limited
(ASX:TBH) is Managing Director, Todd Buckingham. Todd, welcome.
Todd Buckingham: Thanks Clive, thanks for having us.
Clive Tompkins: For investors not familiar with TopBetta Holdings. Can you introduce the company?
Todd Buckingham: TopBetta is a Newcastle-based company; obviously we’ve just listed on the stock market. The business itself is an online wagering platform. We’ve created some unique products on the platform, where we’ve got fantasy wagering. Where punters can compete against each other, rather than compete against the bookmaker. We have all of our traditional wagering products on there that you’d find on a betting site. But predominantly, we focus on the fantasy component of the wagering.
Clive Tompkins: For investors that participated in the IPO. What price did you start trading?
Todd Buckingham: We started trading at 19 cents.
Clive Tompkins: The listing raised $6 million. What value does that put on the company and where are the funds going?
Todd Buckingham: The $6 million gave us a market cap of around $19 million. The money and the funds will actually be predominantly for marketing purposes, to build up now that we’ve launched the products into the market. It’s now time to start marketing. So predominantly the funds will be used to get the products out there.
Clive Tompkins: Can you tell us about the business model?
Todd Buckingham: The business has got three real components to it. There’s the online wagering, which is traditional wagering. We’ve also got content, premium content, we’ve got the fantasy wagering. The traditional wagering is really there for support for the other businesses, the other parts of the business. Our premium content is all about providing expert tips and expert advice to our punters, and our followers. So we’ve got third party providers, guys that are professional punters, guys that have been in the business for many, many years that actually provide expert advice, back to our users.
The main part of our business is our fantasy-wagering platform, which we have built. It is an engagement platform, where people can get on there and talk to each other, comment, check leader boards. It’s got a real social environment to the platform and it really gives value for money, back to the punter. So rather than the punter taking his $100 down to the TAB and blowing it on the weekend, he can have a really good day on the punt and have an engaged experience, across the platform.
Clive Tompkins: Can you tell us a bit more about the unique features of the fantasy platform?
Todd Buckingham: The platform has been built from scratch; it’s a proprietary built platform. We decided to build the complete technical stack ourselves, from the database level, right through to the consumer facing products. It allows us to do much more things than you can when you’re buying third party platforms, off the shelf. We can expand and add features. Our fantasy tournaments are very unique in the market, in the fact that you can get on there and you can be chatting to each other. And have that real social aspect of when you’re on there, having a bet on the weekend.
So we like to call our customers weekend warriors. Those guys who get in there on the weekend and have a go, and want to have a punt just for the weekend, but they’re not serious punters. You can get on there and enjoy it a lot more than what you can, on a traditional wagering platform.
Clive Tompkins: What is the size of the fantasy betting market, and what markets or countries are you targeting?
Todd Buckingham: Predominantly we’ll be concentrating on the Australian market. We think there’s a big market here for us. And if you compare it to the US market, fantasy wagering or fantasy betting in the US, is about a $3 billion market. So just in comparison to sheer size, then that would say that Australia’s a $150-$200 million market, which is basically untapped at the moment. So there’s no one doing this in Australia at the moment, so we’re going to be trying to tap into that market.
Clive Tompkins: Last question Todd. Where would you like to see TopBetta Holdings this time next year?
Todd Buckingham: We’ve only just launched the new platform on October the 5
th, so we’re really starting from ground zero. We’ve got a lot of growth in the business and we’ve got a lot of growth in the industry, as well. This time next year, we would like TopBetta to be synonymous with the word fantasy betting in Australia. So the more people know about it, the business obviously to grow into some really big tournaments. And again, get us out there in the market so that people know who TopBetta are.
Clive Tompkins: Todd Buckingham, congratulations on the listing and best of luck.
Todd Buckingham: Thanks very much Clive, thanks for having me.
Ends