Entain sets up its first home with Momento

Momento Hospitality Group is set to become the first licenced venue to partner with Entain Australia following the advertising and sponsorship agreement between Entain and AHA New South Wales, signed in October.

Momento's new site, The Star Hotel in Seven Hills, will house a Ladbrokes Lounge when it opens in early 2023, and made possible by the agreement which gives Entain on-premise access to promote its digital brands, Ladbrokes and Neds.

October's agreement led to Tabcorp - which has an exclusive agreement on retail betting in pubs in NSW and across the country in place - taking legal action alleging the two parties have not provided sufficient information "about their agreement for Tabcorp to decide whether to commence substantive proceedings" against the two.

Tabcorp suggests that the agreement raises "a risk of contravening the Unlawful Gambling Act of 1998”.

But in October, AHA NSW CEO John Whelan said, “For decades now, many NSW hotels have operated PubTABs for Tabcorp at a significant loss - primarily due to high Sky Channel and EBT (betting terminal) fees."

Whelan says that what Entain and AHA NSW are aiming to do is to provide venues with choice and opportunity.

“Over the past 10 weeks more than 800 of the 1,050 NSW hotels with wagering sought competition and choice by reaching out to Entain,” Whelan said.

“Momento Hospitality are respected as one of Australia’s leading and most innovative hotel groups. This is a significant first step in the new hotel wagering environment.”

Leon Colosimo, owner of Momento, said that the Ladbrokes Lounge supports the group's aspirations for "a new level of sports interaction and customer experience" while for Entain, being able to advertise Ladbrokes in the on-premise; it's a "game changer," says its GM of Retail, Mark Sturdy said.

He expects this "to be the first of many partnerships we do in this space.”