Surely Packer (ft. his advisors) would have done the analysis and seen that the potential upside to owning the only exchange (+/- Betfair Brand) in Australia having too much value to ignore.
Once the inplay betting regulation changes (which I believe is just a matter of time), whoever owns the exchange in Australia will be the core of the $5b+ sports betting industry (excluding online pokies & poker). As you would expect, Crown would want to have their online ducks in a row for when/if these channels come into play.
Well aware of the issues the exchange concept has had in Australia to date, however in hindsight it has been amazing that Betfair (as a foreign company) have progressed as far as they have. Hopefully Packer and his team of jackals can do everyone a favour and give Xenophobe and V'landys a nudge into other career paths.
Amending the Interactive Gaming Act...
The following is just from my own reading so may be well off the mark however others in the know (up to date) may be able to contribute...
The Australian Government has each of the states creating a "harm minimization" plan/report in order to progress amending the Interactive Gaming Act. This is the precursor to a 5 year pilot allowing online poker to be (legally) offered to Australians.
Although online sports betting is out of scope at this point in amending the IGA, it does appear to be at the forefront of discussions and also included in the report by the Department of Broadband, Communications & Digital Economy (DBCDE) in 2013.
For more info read the attached report. Bit of a grey area around what clarifies as "micro betting" however good to see it is at least on the table.The principle of platform neutrality was applied by the DBCDE in its Final Report. With respect to betting, this means that a category of bets will be treated the same way regardless of the channel on which betting took place.
Also on the IGA front, they have recently progressed the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA) which I have seen numerous mentions to in the IGA reviews & reports etc. I assume this is all that the Australian Government actually cares about. As per usual, the government appears to want each of the states to take ownership and come up with the proposals. (knowing how fast states work, might be 10 years away though)
Sources
Review of the Interactive Gaming Act
Page 3 - "Online Wagering"
http://www.addisonslawyers.com.au/knowl ... tralia.pdf
FATCA
http://www.mallesons.com/publications/m ... leted.aspx