Australian betting operator Tabcorp Holdings has launched a new marketing campaign aimed at stirring punters’ patriotism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tabcorp’s TAB betting brand recently unveiled a new marketing pitch urging local bettors to ‘Back the Industry and Bet with TAB.’ The video spots (a sample of which can be viewed at the bottom of this article) urge bettors to shun rival Aussie-licensed corporate bookmakers in favor of the TAB’s offering in order to support the local racing industry.

The spots claim that TAB returns more than four times the sums to the racing industry than its online betting rivals – most of which are local offshoots of UK- and European-based companies – thereby supporting “the hundreds of thousands of local faces that keep racing going.”

That Tabcorp-flattering math, based on a ratio of industry returns to turnover from the 2019 financial year, was undeniably helped by the TAB’s near-monopolistic control of retail betting and tote wagers, courtesy of its recent absorption of rival Tatts Group. TAB also controls racing broadcasts, including livestreamed video, through its Sky Racing subsidiary.