Good morning. Welcome to the PointsBet Holdings Limited 2023 Extraordinary General Meeting. M`y name is Brett Paton. I'm your Chair. We have a quorum. I'm pleased to declare the meeting now open. I would like to welcome those shareholders who have joined us here today in person, together with those shareholders who are participating through our hybrid online meeting platform. I now request that all mobile phones be turned off or placed in silence. Thank you. Turning to the agenda for today's meeting, I note that it's now past 11:00 A.M. This is a properly constituted meeting. As a quorum for an Extraordinary General Meeting is present, I formally declare this 2023 meeting open. Let me now introduce you to the people who are with me this morning.
In the room, we have our CEO and Managing Director, Sam Swanell , to my right, together with Non-Executive Directors, Peter McCluskey , far left, Tony Symons. Also with us is our Group CFO, Andrew Mellor, to my right. Participating online, our Non-Executive Directors, Becky Harris, Manjit Gombra Singh, Kosha Gada, and William Grounds, together with our Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Andrew Hensher. Thank you. The notice of meeting was distributed to all shareholders, and copies are also available online. I take the notice of meeting as read.
Set out in the notice of meeting, voting will be decided on a poll. In order to provide everyone with an opportunity to vote, and in case anyone cannot stay for the whole meeting, I will now formally declare the poll open for those who wish to vote. I will give plenty of notice before the end of the meeting to ensure that you're able to cast your vote. I'd like to introduce Assistant Company Secretary, Lara Doubell, to talk through the procedures for voting.
Good morning. I'm here to share the share register of the company appointed to act as scrutineers, and Mr. Peter Reinders, appointed as the Returning Officer for the purpose of the poll. For those in attendance in person, the blue voting cards handed out contains the resolution, and you should complete the cards before the end of the meeting. Shareholders who wish to abstain from voting, and proxy holders who have been directed to abstain from voting, do not need to complete the voting card. For those participating online, you can select the Vote icon at the top of your screen. You can then cast your vote, and you will see a vote confirmation. You can vote any time during the proceedings until voting is declared closed. You can also vote, change your vote at any time during the proceedings. Next slide.
We will also take the opportunity for questions. If you're attending online, you can start submitting written questions now by clicking the Q&A icon. You can also ask a verbal question by following the instructions of the broadcast video window. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders, or authorized shareholders may vote. Any undirected proxy votes given to the Chairman will be voted in favor of the resolution. Any directed proxies given to you by the shareholder will automatically be cast and directed when the poll is closed. Results will be released to the ASX after the conclusion of the meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, Lara. I will now move to the formal business of the meeting. Resolution one: Disposal of main undertaking, the sale of our U.S. business. Proposal we are asking you today is to vote on is a critical step. It has followed a long process to determine the value of our U.S. operations, test the market to determine qualified buyers, and extensive, and what we believe to be successful negotiations to arrive at a transaction that allows a cash return to shareholders, and ongoing investment in a company with strong growth prospects. Why are we selling our U.S. business? The short answer is that having had some strategic success, the cost of competing against the largest companies of their type in the world meant the business would not be cash flow positive in the near term.
Continuing to operate the U.S. business would require significant capital and further capital raises. This transaction addresses that uncertainty. Let me give you some more context. In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gave individual states the authority to legalize and regulate sports betting. Our experience in Australia gave us the confidence to invest, to invest and enter the U.S. market, a market that would grow by some 800% since we first entered. In 2018, we began putting together the building blocks. We first built an experienced team. We formed the necessary partnerships with U.S. operators and established state market access agreements and partnerships with U.S. sporting leagues and teams. We accessed capital markets to fund a rapid expansion to gain an early mover advantage.
We set out to build a leading tech platform that would deliver a top-tier product customized for the North American market. It would focus on live betting in the U.S., where sports are 75% of all turnover and would occur where no one globally had previously focused. This product-led strategy was our right to win. We are one of only nine companies to be granted a license in the critical New York market, and we are now live in 15 North American markets jurisdictions. We delivered this on our internal tech platform and showcased our leading product, that has been independently ranked in the top 3 in the U.S. for the last 2 years. I believe it's important for shareholders to understand how valuable our PointsBet technology has become. It has been one of the critical features.
Of the interest in our company by numerous groups we have spoken to. While I'll talk to you in more detail later, it bodes well for the value of our future and future of the Australian and Canadian businesses. We knew that brand and database were our challenges. We did a significant marketing deal with NBCUniversal, one of the biggest sports media groups in the world, and we believe would address that challenge. While NBC have some fantastic assets, our brand was starting with no recognition, and we couldn't make as much progress as we had hoped. Having said that, many of the largest established brands with substantial databases have also struggled. One has spent around two and a half billion U.S. dollars on their online aspirations after starting with a strong brand and database, and have only achieved mid-single digit market share.
Other big spending online operators have gained even less traction. Many have closed. We doubt anybody expected FanDuel and DraftKings to become effectively a sports betting duopoly. It points to the huge incumbency benefits these companies have in the U.S. market. We are one of the only international operators to have gained a worthwhile market share. There are over 60 online sports betting operators in the market. Only seven brands, including PointsBet, have a market share of more than 1%, with the remaining 53 companies testing, competing for the rest. In the U.S., PointsBet has generally flexed in all our competitive strengths as a challenger business. We've used our technology to deliver a leading sports betting product experience, but our ability to get scale and operate at substantial scale was challenging.
We've been competing in a very high-cost operating market with the overlay of capital pressures to continue funding the business through to profitability. As a result, investors have moved away from growth stocks, which negatively impacted our valuation and our ongoing ability to potentially fund our organic development. Given the market uncertainty and being acutely aware of our capital requirements to grow, we have continually been exploring strategic options for PointsBet. Once we decided to sell the U.S. business, we turned our attention to finding the right business partner. Fanatics identified in PointsBet many of the attributes needed to successfully enter the online market. In turn, Fanatics have a strong brand and an extensive sports customer base with a fanatical interest in sports.
On May 15 this year, your directors announced PointsBet had entered into a binding agreement with Fanatics Betting and Gaming for the sale of our U.S. business for a headline cash consideration of $150 million. From now on, to make things easier, I will talk in U.S. dollars, because the currency. On Friday, the 16th of June, we received a non-binding indicative offer from DraftKings for PointsBet's business, U.S. business. The proposed $195 million was a 30% premium to Fanatics' proposal of $150. On Monday, the 19th of June, PointsBet directors advised the ASX that we had considered the DraftKings proposal, and acting in good faith, had determined that the proposal could reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal, and as a result, we engaged.
We gave DraftKings a period of due diligence to firm up a superior proposal. On Tuesday this week, Fanatics increased their offer by 50%, or $75 million- $225 million. DraftKings was unable to finalize a binding offer by 6:00 P.M. this Tuesday. The board unanimously supports the improved proposal from Fanatics, which provides superior price plus certainty. Let me summarize the details of the proposed sale of the U.S. business and what it means for PointsBet shareholders. You're being asked to approve the sale of the U.S. wagering business and iGaming operations in the U.S. to Fanatics for a cash consideration of $225 million. We intend to distribute capital to shareholders of approximately AUD 1.39-AUD 1.44 a share.
We expect to make the distribution to you over two tranches, with the first tranche of this approximately $1 per share, expected to be paid in mid-September this year, following the first amount received from Fanatics. The second distribution will be made following the final close. Should the vote be successful today, PointsBet funding requirements for the U.S. business will be capped at approximately $21 million from the conclusion of this meeting to the final completion of the proposed transaction. That's it. As a shareholder, you'll keep a shareholding in PointsBet, leading Australian business, a growing Canadian business, which remains listed on the ASX. The remaining company, PointsBet Holdings, post the completion of the sale of the U.S. business, is currently expected to be at or around an EBIT break-even run rate.
We expect the profitability of the Australian business to be significantly offset the near-term losses of the Canadian business. Importantly, your company will continue to own the sports wagering and iGaming technology platform that is the backbone of both the Australian and North American business. In addition, PointsBet will retain a perpetual license to use and further develop the Banach technology assets at no cost. The need for capital to fund the U.S. business will cease. As you would expect, should the vote be successful, we'll implement foreign exchange hedges, given that Fanatics' installment will be received in USD. In consideration, in considering all the options and advice we've received, the board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the proposed Fanatics transaction. Each director has or will vote all shares held or controlled by them in favor of the proposed transaction. Proposed distribution.
Let me talk a little further about the, this in detail. The distribution is subject to a number of conditions, as detailed in the notice of meeting. The board estimates shareholders will receive approximately AUD 1.39- AUD 1.44 per share. The final amount of the proposed distribution will be determined by the board during the completion of the sale, and will depend on the following factors: One, finalization of proceeds received or paid by PointsBet during the purchase price adjustments. Finalization of the amount of applicable taxes and transaction restructuring costs payable on the proposed transaction. Provision for future liabilities associated with the proposed transaction, if any. Conversion of the net sale proceeds and corporate cash as applicable, from U.S. dollars to Australian dollars.
Finally, the number of fully paid ordinary shares on issue at the record date of the proposed distribution. The proposed distribution, as described in the notice of meeting, will require additional shareholder approval. PointsBet will begin the necessary steps to facilitate the proposed distribution in the coming months to meet the planned mid-September first distribution date. The new PointsBet, if the proposed sale is approved, PointsBet Holdings Limited will continue as an ASX-listed company, owning the Australian and Canadian businesses. Importantly, retain ownership of our proprietary sporting wagering and iGaming platform that is currently used in both Australia and North American markets. We will be granted a perpetual, royalty-free license to use and further develop the Banach technology assets , including the underlying source code driving Odds Factory.
This will give us options into the future to exploit PointsBet proprietary sports wagering and iGaming platform in other regions outside of the United States and in the U.S., beginning 18 months after the completion of the proposed sale. The new PointsBet will have a very experienced leadership team. Scott Vanderwel has been the CEO of the Canadian business since August 2021. Prior to joining PointsBet, Scott oversaw corporate strategy, operational improvement, and digital operations for a 32 billion communications and media company. Andrew Catterall has been chief executive of our Australian operations since July of last year, and has over 20 years' experience at senior levels of the sports and wagering industry. Andrew is here, so, let me ask him to stand up. Thanks, Andrew.
Of course, both report to Sam Swanell, Managing Director and group CEO, and has been in the industry for 20 years. We will continue with a great team of leading technologists, traders, quants, to service and grow the Australian and Canadian businesses. Over the coming months, we'll set out our roadmap for the new PointsBet. After Fanatics' integration with our U.S. business, we will reorganize to remove the layers of overheads, which were necessary to run a much larger company. We will simplify many of our core operations, workflows, and resources, and make Australia the center of our global technology. In both countries, the new PointsBet will grow market share. In Australia, PointsBet has a strong, well-recognized brand. In Canada, we are the challenger brand. Both have user-friendly leader technology, and both will be well capitalized.
In Canada, PointsBet is live in the sports wagering and iGaming market in Ontario. The Ontario market structure is attractive for sports and iGaming operators. For instance, there are no partner revenue share agreements, unlike most U.S. states, nominal license fees, an effective tax rate of 18% gross gaming revenue. The lower capital requirements and the higher operating margins relative to most U.S. states create a strong prospect for attractive future economics. Technology is our real competitive advantage in both markets. Following the sale of the U.S. business, PointsBet Holdings is currently expected to be at or around EBITDA breakeven, with the profitability of the Australian business expected to significantly offset the expected near-term losses of the Canadian business as it builds scale.
To summarize, the board believes the proposed sale of the U.S. business delivers the most attractive, risk-adjusted value outcome for PointsBet shareholders compared to the risks and benefits of PointsBet's pursuing other potential options, including the status quo. Approval today will facilitate a significant return of PointsBet capital to PointsBet shareholders, while retaining exposure to PointsBet leading Australian business, growing Canadian business, and world-class technology assets. Before we move to questions, let me say on behalf of your board, that we understand any disappointment about the share price performance of our company. The shareholders, ourselves, both Sam and I, and the Board, understand that any deep concern and frustration this may have caused you. We would like to thank the team at Fanatics, especially Michael Rubin and Matt King.
I want to particularly recognize our PointsBet U.S. staff, who have worked tirelessly for shareholders and have a strong future under Fanatics. Let me thank you for supporting all of you, PointsBet, through this journey. Let me move now to the vote. The resolution and a summary of the votes received before the meeting now appear on the screen. The directors recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. I now open for questions and discussion. Please note, the questions should be limited to the resolution being put to shareholders today. The company will release its full year results in August. I won't be able to answer any questions regarding the company's financial or trading performance today. Are there any questions from shareholders here in attendance? Lara, are there any written questions we've received?
Chair, we do have a few questions from a shareholder, Mr. Stephen Mayne. The first question being: Well done on exiting a super competitive, loss-making U.S. market for a reasonable price. What is our net loss overall from entering the U.S. market, excluding any expenditure on the Canadian operations?
Could you just recite that last part of the question?
Sure. What is our net loss overall from entering the U.S. market, excluding any expenditure on the Canadian operations?
I've got a good idea of that, Stephen, but I might actually ask Andrew Mellor to comment.
Yeah, thanks for the question, Stephen. One thing that, just to point out, is that we haven't you know, disclosed all those final losses, as Brett referenced. We'll be releasing our financial results in August. Any disclosures we've made to date are only up until December. You know, I think that what we can say is that there's been a reasonable loss has been incurred. We're very pleased with the outcome and appreciate your initial comments on that. The goal was obviously to stabilize the company from a capital perspective, given the ongoing losses from the U.S. We'll be able to disclose more detail on what that final number is at our final results in August.
Thank you. Our next question from Mr. Mayne is: In hindsight, do we regret doing the NBCUniversal advertising deal? Would our losses have been lower if we'd gone it alone? Who were the main executives we dealt with at NBCUniversal, and are they happy with our exit from the U.S. market?
Let me have an initial response to that, Stephen, then I might pass on to Sam Swanell, he can comment on behalf of the executive team. The building blocks that I referred to earlier in the presentation, were creating the staff, having the right mix, staff mix, getting market access agreements in place from the various states or operators in various states, such as casinos and racetracks. We were conscious, obviously, of the lack of brand and data, the NBC, We were fortunate to be on a pick. It was a very lengthy scope, scoped out assignment. There were a number of parties who pitched to win the right to be the NBC's sports betting partner.
We were successful in actually winning that beauty parade. That was our journey to meet the customers in America. We didn't have a brand, we weren't a casino, we didn't have fantasy betting as a legacy. It was the line of sight we had to customers, and they had some unique assets and some unique associations with sport. They were branching out with lots of new products that were well suited to our offering. That was the macro side, and I'll get Sam just to talk about some of the micro matters you referred to.
Yeah, I think, at the time, you know, obviously, we've got to think about what the environment looked like at the time, and to add to what Brett said, I think most operators in that market saw the NBC assets as a real gem, a real opportunity that could strengthen any operator's prospects in that market. You know, for NBC to choose us at that time and to, obviously, take equity in our company at that time, really talks to the fact that they believed in the partnership and what we could achieve together. You know, obviously, the market's reaction at the time was affirmative of that move. You know, I think it talks to some of the challenges that we've faced.
I think it comes back to the fact that, yes, as Brett said, we were starting from scratch, zero brand recognition. We've recognized that the DFS operators, we're a sports betting-led organization. That was how we were gonna win our market share, on the back of live betting, great product in the sports betting space, and then cross-sell to the iGaming. As Brett said in his announcement and his remarks, you know, FanDuel and DraftKings' inherent advantage from their DFS roots has just proven to be very, very strong. Look, in retrospect, you know, who knows? It was certainly the right decision at the time. It just hasn't been enough for us to bridge that gap required to achieve the scale that we were aspiring to.
Thank you. The next question from Mr. Mayne is: Why are we proposing such a large cash return rather than conserving cash for acquisition opportunities in Australia, such as buying betr? Have we had any discussions with betr or other smaller local competitors, such as BlueBet? Given the apocalypse of global competition in the U.S. market, could the Chair and CEO please comment on competitive pressures in the Australian sports gambling market, and whether the proposed advertising ban is a major risk going forward as we concentrate on our operations in Australia?
Okay. Thanks, Stephen. I might decompose that into two elements. In terms of cap, I'll address the capital, the capital settings that we've basically settled on. The NewCo has limited capital requirements in Australia because it will be generating positive cash flow, positive EBITDA going forward. We've analyzed the Canadian growth prospects and analyzed the capital that needs to be allocated to that mission, and bear in mind, we've got Ontario, but we're going to have other states, or provinces rather, that open up. Fortunately, sequentially. Fortunately, with relatively low cost stapled opportunities in iGaming. In other words, licenses will carry the second license for iGaming, we assume.
The capital requirements are really designed to buffer the balance sheet so that we have very low, if no prospects of ever having to come back to shareholders. As to M&A, I'll just on the macro point of view, we do see opportunities, as the advertising industry, as government intervention in advertising may change the landscape, and some of the economics for some of the operators. We do see an opportunity some of the junior operators might, in time, come to organizations like ours and suggest that they can, you know, that we can actually find merit in the proposal.
Stephen, for the meantime, from, again, from a macro point of view, and I'll get Sam to have a bit more of a deep dive, but we just want our shareholders to see that we've settled down, returned them capital, hit the pause button for a little while, make sure that the exciting developments in Canada are done properly and with the right resourcing and the right allocation of technology without further distractions. We have been, you know, management's been, I'm amazed and impressed with the ability of the management just to keep going tirelessly, and effectively, and positively with a lot of moving parts, including this particular matter we're here today to vote on. You know, I think the capital settings are fine.
They'll allow us to do things in the future, down the track, and we've got a lot of headroom with what we plan to leave in the balance sheet in terms of cash. Sam?
Yeah, I think as it relates to the Australian macro environment, and in relation to the government report that was handed down yesterday, you know, we have a very strong brand in the Australian market, and obviously, we've got a high-profile ambassador in Shaquille O'Neal, and we've had really effective cut-through in growing our brand in the last couple of years. We've got a fantastic product. We believe that product, with a more, with more focus on it on behalf of the group, I've said this many times, the USA was 14 of our 16 jurisdictions. It was complicated, high regulatory overheads attached to product velocity releases.
Our roadmap gets far simpler when we start talking about a focus on the Australian market and the Canadian market, and our ability to use our first-class technology and concentrators to just, you know, deliver sustained outcomes, you know, we think is enhanced with, obviously, the sale of the U.S. business. You know, as part of being a top-level product and a top-level operator, you know, we have very high-level responsible gambling standards, you know? We welcome stronger standards in these areas. We recognize the need for some change around advertising. The net-net of all that, as Brett alluded to, is there is a long tail of operators in the Australian market.
It's just not possible for those long tail of operators to be compliant at the standard that we think the industry should be operating at. You know, we're very confident of our ability to grow our market share in Australia on the back of our increased focus. We also think that, you know, operators coming up to the standard, which should be expected and which we operate at, will create some opportunities, will create some attrition in the marketplace and, add to our ability to grow our market share.
Thanks, Sam. Next question from Mr. Mayne. is: Why is the share price only trading at around AUD 1.75 if we're proposing to return up to AUD 1.40 per share in cash to shareholders? Is our Australian business really worth that little? Have we considered doing a share consolidation, so our shares don't trade at a low level below 50%? Sorry, AUD 0.50.
Do you mind just reading that last bit back to me?
Sure. Is our Australian business really worth that little, and have we considered doing a share consolidation, so our shares don't trade at low levels below 50%? Sorry, AUD 0.50.
Cents. A share, starting from the back first. If we did a share consolidation and created, it's just like, for every five shares, you had 1, then the shares would go from AUD 1.70 times 5, AUD 8.50. It, in my time in capital markets, if you said to a company, "If you're going to do an IPO, what would be the right sort of share price to float a company at?" There's lots of prevailing views about that. American investors, they don't like penny stocks. Australian investors do like penny stocks. Where, if I was giving advice to the federal government on the IPO of Telstra, for example, sake, or the IPO of Cavern Water Softers, or CSL, it would have been AUD 2. You know, 20 years ago, it would have been AUD 1.
I think Ashton Mining was floated, might have been AUD 0.50. The market's moved to a position where, to suit all people, what's the right sort of currency? I think, Stephen, sitting around AUD 1.70, I can't tell you, I can't give guidance to at least this investor group in isolation, but, call it AUD 2.00. I think that's not a bad currency for the stock to be trading at. We do trade in adequate volumes on a daily basis. Take me back a little bit, Lara.
You're sort of asking about there's AUD 1.40, AUD 1.39-AUD 1.44 to be distributed.
Yeah.
We're trading at circa AUD 1.75, which seems, Stephen Mayne's making the point, seems cheap. Why do we think that is? I'm happy to.
Well, we were puzzled yesterday, puzzled the day before, or the day before the trading halt. Puzzled yesterday because is it tax loss selling June thirtieth? For some people, they do, individual investors and institutions sell shares to crystallize tax loss to offset capital gains in their portfolio. There'd be some of that element to it. Stephen, we've recently come out of the MSCI Asia-Pacific Small Cap Index. That occurred about a month ago, we've had to deal with 8 to 9 million of shares being sold in the intervening period. That's just exhaust, you know, possibly led to a bit of investor fatigue on the buy side. I guess there's also the uncertainty that might have been prevailing about this meeting itself.
Also our ability to deliver the 139 to 144. We have total confidence in delivering that. We have no cash. We have no debt. We have a lot of cash on balance sheet. Currently, we're going to have a lot more shortly, so we have total conviction of being able to deliver those, make those, make those promises. In terms of risk, you know, maybe some investors haven't really spent the attention on the Australian market and the Canadian market, what it could mean for us. We're pretty excited about that dual market operation, and I just think that the market hasn't really settled in.
We've got time, we've planned to dedicate to do investor updates, and that'll be around the 4C, and that'll be with our annual results, and it'll be presumably at the annual general meeting following that. There's a lot of investor education that we're planning to implement to help people in the room who've got shares, see a better outcome.
Nothing to add. That's great.
Thanks, Stephen.
Thank you. We've had several similar questions from shareholders who would like to know: what will the estimated market cap of PointsBet be if the sale of the U.S. operation is achieved with Fanatics?
That would be asking the poor old chairman to give us forecasts about the future share price, which would be issued shares on, shares on issue multiplied times, multiplied by the share price. All I can say is that we, you know, we had a really great presentation by our head of Australia, head of Canada, yesterday at the board. I left analytically quite happy with what the future prospects look like. You know, Canada and Australia got very similarities. The Canadian, Canadians like to have a bet. They're very keen on sport. They've got slightly different preferences. Obviously, ice hockey is their big code, but they follow world, they follow global sport, as do we. We've got English, you know, English law like we've got.
It's very easy to do business in Canada. We've got some great relationships with some of the sporting you know, sporting codes. Is there anything I've missed there, Sam?
No, I would just add, I think Brett touched on some of the perhaps factors that are weighing down on people's thoughts or investors' thoughts on the current share price. You know, as Brett said, get through today, get through reporting for 4C, end of year results in August. People see that the Fanatics close on the first closing, the money's in the bank for that. People see that the AUD 1 distribution is happening, and it's real in mid-September. I think, you know, there's good prospects for us getting the message out through this next couple of months, in two or three months, about the value that is not being captured at the moment.
equally, you know, our, obviously, our results, a big part of our results has been the investment we've been making in the U.S. in particular. There'll be some noise around our numbers that we will need to be able to provide clarity on. Obviously, we're talking about the fact that at the moment, we're giving some high-level guidance about the remaining businesses being break even, when we, when we come out of having closed the U.S. business. We need to give clarity around that and take people on the journey, and we recognize that. I think, getting through these very important steps, the vote today, updated numbers at the 4C and the final results first closing from Fanatics, the dollar being real, you know, I'd like to think that we can make some ground in terms of getting that message out there.
Back to you, Sam, because I just realized Stephen asked a question about the Australian, and there will be questions about the Australian landscape, given the 31 draft recommendations that have come forward in the last 48 hours. Sam, do you want to talk about it?
Yeah, as I sort of referenced a bit earlier, I mean, I think we believe we're really well placed as it relates to our position as operating as a top-tier operator that operates in the right way. There's many of these things or recommendations that we agree with. We do believe, though, that there will be a significant amount of consultation with the racing industry, sporting body, advertisers, et cetera. Now we get an opportunity as a group to say, "Okay, we understand the concerns in the community. We understand the recommendations of this report and to work through on solutions together." You know, hasn't necessarily always been the place that all of those different stakeholders have got together to get the right outcome.
Again, we believe that, as a net-net, we would welcome standards being adhered to at the level at which we operate at, and that our established place in the market from a brand perspective, top-tier sort of product and getting better, you know, that net-net, it won't inhibit our growth going forward, our growing our market share.
Thank you. We have another question from Mr. Mayne. Canada sounds attractive with a gross gaming tax rate of just 18% and minimal product fees. After all these recent increases in Australian taxes, what is our Australian tax rate, and what percentage of gross gaming revenue is paid to racing and sporting codes in Australia? Is this the highest of any industry in any jurisdiction in the world?
Yeah. I think it is worth going back to the, this government report. I mean, it's worth, you know, it being known just how much we do pay, you know, you know, over 50% of AUD 1 that we might win off a client basically goes back to governments, government bodies, sporting bodies, et cetera. You know, so you're talking effectively a 50% type tax rate, if you consider all of those things sort of interrelated. You know, we do have a belief that, as I said, the Australian market, from a taxation perspective and a product fees and all these interrelated areas, we think that there's a degree of recognition now that they have peaked.
The racing industry's come under some pressure from turnover because, you know, there's, you know, pretty much been nonstop increases in these fees and taxes for the last few years. The COVID period, people were having a punt as one of the few entertainment options that they had. If it wasn't for that sort of period, we probably would have seen some of this easing off in some of the turnover and the impact of the product fees and tax increases that we've seen would have come in earlier. They're there now, and I think there's a broad recognition that we've sort of reached the peak in the sector in Australia, unless you want to kill it effectively. That has consequences for the racing industry, sporting bodies, media companies, as we said earlier.
From a Canadian perspective, it's 18%. Look, we're really excited about the fact that we've held on to our Canadian asset. We think it is the most attractive North American market. You have iGaming sitting there right next to sports betting. That means that your path to profitability and your unit economics on your marketing spend is more efficient. We're not paying partner fees, as Brett said, so it's an 18% tax rate. Canada, and this is what all regulators need to keep in mind, is that in Canada, you have a situation where you have legal operators, such as PointsBet licensed operators, competing with gray market operators that are still servicing that market.
The regulator and all regulators in all markets make an assessment that we want to bring that action onshore. We want to bring that turnover and that betting onshore. We want to tax it at a fair rate. We want to put in place responsible gambling measures. We want to create jobs. You know, most regulators see that if they go over the top from a taxation perspective, that you risk pushing that turnover. It's more heightened in a market like Canada than it ever was in Australia because the market took so long to legalize. Online betting on your mobile phone has been around for so long. Even before the Canadian or U.S. markets were opened up, a big penetration had occurred for people betting on their phones.
You've got to win that back, and if you've got worse odds or worse promotions, et cetera, because you're paying too much tax, then you can't win it back. Our understanding is that, you know, the Ontario regulator is really, really happy with the way the market has progressed, really happy with the way that operators took up the opportunity to become licensed, because they could see that moving from being a gray market operator, as some of them were, to licensed, it was worth their while, because the tax was reasonable and the economics, they were giving up some things, but it made sense to do so. That's an attractive market. Alberta, we expect, would be the next province of Canada. Ontario is about a AUD 2 billion-AUD 2.5 billion TAM.
Alberta's probably another $500 million of addressable market. It will have sports betting and iGaming as well. We expect it to have a very similar regime. Again, it adds to the attractiveness of that Canadian market. It provides some extra bandwidth at the same attractive economics.
Thank you. Our last written question online is from Mr. Book, who would like to know: Can you comment on the approximate balance of tax losses within PointsBet? To what extent, to your knowledge, are you able to offset future profits against this balance? i.e., are U.S. losses able to be offset against future profits?
That's a great question, and one that I'm particularly interested in. Yes, in the U.S., we are selling at a loss. Those losses can be used and brought to the Australian business to shield and protect us from future capital gain, were to embark on a similar structured outcome. i.e., if we sell the Australian business, we would have an element of tax shield brought forward to cover what would then be a capital gain for the Australian assets. That's something we're not addressing, obviously, right now. We have no cause to address it's useful to know that we'll have some benefits that's sitting as a deferred tax asset. And any further comments on that?
No, thank you, sir.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you. That concludes the written online questions. Computershare, do we have any verbal online questions? None? That concludes questions. Thank you, Chair.
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