TAB NZ offered a $150 million deal to the government in a bid to secure a lucrative online casino licence, according to documents obtained by RNZ.

The government is auctioning off 15 online casino licences as it regulates online gambling for the first time and local operators fear they’ll end up in the hands of foreign owned multinationals and eat into their market share.

The TAB, which is a statutory entity, is barred from offering online casino gambling under current laws.

It wrote to ministers requesting a law change, saying its viability was under threat if it continued to be locked out of the online casino market.

Documents released to RNZ under the Official Information Act show the TAB told Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden that it could offer up a $150 million payment to the government.

But the deal was knocked back.

“Not under my watch,” van Velden said when RNZ asked whether she would allow the TAB to seek a licence.

“I don’t believe that the government should be involved in casino gambling,” she said. “I look at the government trying to address the core services that people need in their lives and providing an online service for casino games is not what I think the government should be involved in.”

The TAB made the offer for an “iGaming” licence in writing to van Velden in December 2023.

“It is possible to get a substantial capital payment to the government from selling the rights to iGaming in an exclusive market. We estimate that there is a $150 million capital payment available for an exclusive market where there are one or two providers,” the TAB said.

The deal would “meet the government’s fiscal ambitions,” the TAB told van Velden.

“The operator could pay approximately NZ$150m upfront for the right to operate the business under a 10-year licence.”

The TAB declined to be interviewed about the deal but it’s understood its proposal could have seen the money paid directly by the TAB or as part of a deal with an international operator.