A long-running TAB service at a Sunshine Coast hotel is set to disappear after Comiskey Group and Tabcorp failed to reach an agreement on a new five-year deal.
The change will affect TAB facilities across Comiskey Group’s Queensland portfolio, including The Imperial Hotel Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast and Sandstone Point Hotel south of the region.
The previous agreement expired on June 30, with Tabcorp ceasing services across Comiskey Group venues from July 1.
Comiskey Group said it declined to sign the new agreement due to higher venue fees, reduced commissions, upfront equipment costs of between $15,000 and $21,000 per venue for TAB equipment that remains owned by Tabcorp, and provisions transferring certain regulatory liabilities onto venue operators.
Comiskey Group director Rob Comiskey said the terms were commercially unworkable.
“The new contract would have cost our business hundreds of thousands of dollars each year,” he said.
“We couldn’t justify signing it because it’s both unfair and not commercially sustainable.
“Hotels have supported TAB for decades, but this deal shifts even more cost and risk onto the venues that actually hold this network together.”
Sunshine Coast News approached Tabcorp in response to the Comiskey Group’s claims, and a spokesperson said the company was upgrading its retail network through new products, a refreshed look and feel, and a $50 million investment across its locations.
“This is the biggest upgrade to our retail network in the company’s history because we want more people going to pubs and clubs,” they said.
As part of the changes, Tabcorp said it had spent $150,000 on screens at the Comiskey Group’s Eatons Hill Hotel and introduced a new commercial model.
A spokesperson said the model involved higher costs for venues but was designed to deliver additional benefits and attract more customers.
The Comiskey Group is also developing two new venues, including the Aura Hotel on the Sunshine Coast, which had previously been planned to include TAB facilities but will now be redesigned without them.
Mr Comiskey said the decision would inconvenience some customers, but the business would now look at other uses for the former TAB spaces.
“We’re disappointed …,” Mr Comiskey said. “But our responsibility is to ensure every part of the venue stacks up commercially and delivers value for guests.”
All other venue operations will remain unchanged, including food and beverage, gaming machines, Keno and live entertainment.
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Tabcorp said 3300 venues remained operational following the changes, representing 95 per cent of its network, with the Comiskey Group among the five per cent of venues that chose to leave.
“We have met with all industry bodies and have been very transparent about what we want to do,” they said.
“The simpler commercial model builds towards the long-term sustainability of the retail network and allows us to invest more.
“This investment will make pubs and clubs busier and is at the heart of our business.”
