South Australia's Liquor and Gambling Commissioner fined Sportsbet AU$325,000 (US$227,000) in an order dated 21 September 2026 for accepting bets on unapproved events.
The finding concerns wagers placed by South Australian residents from 17 April 2023 to 15 September 2024, with a shorter period for novelty markets.
The order identified 942,675 wagers across esports, UFC/MMA, LIV Golf and novelty events. Sportsbet retained at least AU$2.44m from the first three categories after paying winning bets. Revenue from novelty wagers was not available to the regulator.
UFC/MMA accounted for 540,664 bets worth AU$7.69m in stakes. Esports attracted 385,238 wagers worth AU$8.29m. The LIV Golf total was 15,581 wagers, while 1,192 novelty bets covered entertainment and other non-sporting outcomes.
Sportsbet is licensed in the Northern Territory and has operated in South Australia as an authorised interstate betting operator since 2010. South Australian law allows it to accept bets on licensed races and other events approved by the Commissioner. The approval process considers integrity, suitability and gambling-harm risks for each event.
The Commissioner imposed the maximum AU$100,000 fine for each of the esports, UFC/MMA and LIV Golf grounds, plus AU$25,000 for novelty betting. Sportsbet was also reprimanded on all four grounds.
Sportsbet accepted that the markets had not been approved but said the breaches were unintentional. It cited uncertainty in the approved-events notice and the difficulty of restricting products differently across Australian jurisdictions. The Commissioner rejected its interpretation of the notice.
LIV Golf gained approval in January 2025 and UFC/MMA in May 2025, after the betting covered by the order. The Commissioner said those later approvals did not authorise the earlier wagers. A ministerial direction has prevented approval of computer-game betting events in South Australia since 2016.
Sportsbet said it had stopped offering the relevant markets and added technology to control availability by jurisdiction. The Commissioner cited its cooperation, apology and remediation in deciding against suspending or cancelling its South Australian authorisation. Sportsbet is part of Flutter Entertainment.
Sportsbet's separate Northern Territory case drew a fine in December 2025 after it failed to issue mandatory activity statements to thousands of customers, as Global Gaming Insider reported at the time.
The Commissioner said each of the 942,675 wagers could potentially have been treated as a separate breach, but grouped the case into four categories
