Inside TAB’s rollercoaster: The Messi final, Black Caps heartbreak and All Blacks exit
Betting has become an integral part of the sports viewing experience. When it comes to major events, this only increases, with patriotism playing a major role in the way punters spend their money. It has put the Kiwis who work at the TAB in a unique position – their business does extraordinarily well when New Zealanders lose, but suffers heavy losses when the country’s top athletes succeed on the biggest stage.
Nathan Limm spoke with Entain’s general manager of trading, Nick Conway, at the TAB’s headquarters in Wellington to hear about their best and worst days in recent history.
Loss – 2022 Fifa World Cup final
Argentina’s dramatic victory over France on penalties in Qatar will go down in history as perhaps the greatest final ever, but for the TAB, it marks a particularly dark day.
Argentina had one hand on the trophy in the first half after Leo Messi’s opener was followed by Angel Di Maria’s strike before halftime to go up 2-0.
“We had a promotion at the time that as soon as your team were ahead by two goals, we would pay you out as a winner,” said Conway. “So we paid out Argentina in the 36th minute, but then France hit back with two late goals, and so we had to pay out the draw as well.”
Mbappe’s double in the 80th and 81st minutes meant the match finished regulation time in a draw, and the TAB had to pay out a hefty number of punters who had bet on the big names to score.
“Mbappe and Messi scored. Everything all in, we were comfortably over the seven-figure loss that match.”
Conway estimates the TAB lost between $1.5m and $2m.
Win – Black Caps lose to England in the 2019 Cricket World Cup final super over
Widely regarded as one of the most painful results in New Zealand sports history, the heartbreak at Lord’s was almost a huge blow to the TAB.
After England tied the Black Caps’ 241 from 50 overs, the match went to a super over. When the super over was also tied, England were awarded the title on boundary countback.
“I think that was the single most volatile match in the history of TAB. From memory, the Black Caps were roughly a $3 outsider to $1.30 England favourites. It’s a decent price: 100 bucks on that, 300 bucks for us to pay out, so it adds up pretty quickly. The difference between Black Caps winning and England winning was easily a three-, four- or five-million-dollar swing in terms of our profitability.
“It was incredibly difficult to cheer the Black Caps when you see how negative the result was on the Black Caps winning and how much we would be making if the Black Caps couldn’t get the job done. It was very tough as a keen Black Caps fan. I remember watching it in my flat at six in the morning with a few flatmates. They were all cheering for the Black Caps to win, and I was thinking, ‘shit, this is going to get ugly’.
“I suspect all the British bookmakers paid out a stack as well.”
The TAB made just over $1 million from the result.
Loss – Verry Elleegant wins 2021 Melbourne Cup
Verry Elleegant’s gallop to the Melbourne Cup came to the delight of New Zealanders, who were overwhelmingly backing one of their own
Paying $17 to win the hallowed race, Verry Elleegant was New Zealand-bred and part-owned, ridden by Kiwi jockey James McDonald and trained by Foxton’s Chris Waller.
This Kiwi flavour made the six-year-old mare an easy pick for a New Zealand punting population heavily diluted by casual observers wanting a hometown win.
“New Zealanders were all betting on the New Zealand horse. New Zealanders are unsurprisingly very patriotic with their money in terms of betting. We expect to lose on those sorts of horses.”
Conway estimates the TAB lost $2m.
Win – All Blacks lose to England in 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final
The All Blacks’ semi-final exit from Japan’s 2019 World Cup not only ended New Zealand’s push for a record third straight title, but also the punting hopes of confident Kiwi rugby fans.
“Not only is it the result of the match – everyone’s pretty patriotic when it gets to the pointy end of a World Cup – but it also knocks out a pretty red result on the All Blacks to lift the trophy the next weekend. So it basically means we’re going into that next weekend happy with either team winning, from an overall tournament winner perspective.”
Conway said a big part of the Rugby World Cup is people placing long-range bets on the All Blacks.
“We’re already selling bets in preparation for Australia 2027. We’ve got those long-range markets available, and people love them. There are always a few 10-, 20-, or 30-thousand-dollar bets on those markets. When you wipe those out, you kind of always feel a bit sorry, but it’s just the way it is, and most people take the result reasonably well in the end.”
Conway estimates the TAB won $2m.
Nathan Limm has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.