New Zealand Dollar sports betting sites: how to avoid scams & bad information

If you want to play in New Zealand dollars to avoid currency exchange costs, which is what you would naturally want, you may do so at our five recommended NZD betting brands for New Zealand.  However, if you look to play outside these brands for some reason, know that you should not take for granted that NZD accounts will be available to you.  Australia-based bookies that may accept your registration all only support AUD betting accounts since they are not mandated to support NZD. 

Aussie bookies know they will attract Kiwi players, since much of their advertising in their home market will spread naturally into New Zealand. Since betting at offshore sites from New Zealand is completely legal, most of the biggest Australian bookie brands will serve Kiwis. In fact, most serve just two countries, Australia and New Zealand, but they don't offfer Kiwis the opportuntiy to play in their native currency.

Elsewhere, many popular international offshore betting brands that serve customers in New Zealand may only offer USD, EUR or GBP accounts. Why?  This is part of their business model - because the betting sites can also look to make money on currency exchange.  There is no need for you to play at a non-NZD betting site.  

Beyond our recommended brands, some betting sites will serve you with New Zealand Dollar accounts and banking methods.  You just need to be vigilant in ensuring that the site that you choose does in fact offer NZD. When choosing your account currency as you register, do not take the "$" to mean NZD.  That "$" most likely refers to US Dollars. Be sure your betting site explicitly mentions NZD or New Zealand Dollars as you sign-up. 

This can be hard to know as New Zealand is a coveted market for online sports betting companies. So below, SNBET helps you in understanding 1) the non-NZD betting sites to avoid and 2) the new and potentially risky NZD sportsbook brands that you might want to avoid. 

Avoid non-NZD betting sites that try to portray themselves as NZD providers

When browsing online, you may find companies look to market their new customer offers with ‘dollars’ in the offer alongside New Zealand national symbols or payment methods that are popular for Kiwis. When you combine these ad elements together, no one could blame you for thinking that the given online sportsbook offers NZD accounts - but in many cases the ‘dollars’ quoted in the offer may be used toward a Australian or US dollar account.  So you’d actually be converting your funds on every deposit & withdrawal.  In each transaction, you will lose about 3% to 5% of the value, hidden in the exchange.  When you see such online marketing, don't assume that NZD is available.  Start with the default expectation that the dollars on show are referring to AUD or USD, then look for confirmation of NZD availability if you choose to visit the operator.

Which betting sites accept customers in New Zealand but do not offer NZD accounts?

This list is not exhaustive, but these are some of the most visible brands that accept players from New Zealand but would require that you play in another currency, thus incurring exchange costs.

BetDSI, BetNow.eu, BetOnline.ag, Dafabet, Heritage Sports, LSbet, MyBookie.ag, SBOTOP, SBOBET and SportsBetting.ag.

Avoid new betting sites that may not be in business next year, or next week.

If you are an English or German football supporter, you might have heard of a betting brand called ‘MoPlay’.  Founded in August 2018, they went bust in early 2020, but not before they became the official sports betting partner of Manchester United of the Premier League in 2018 and of Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga in 2019.  MoPlay was a completely new betting brand, that served a handful of  "grey markets", including New Zealand. With a flashy new sportsbook app and betting site, to go along with their launch, they invested heavily into these two marketing deals.  

The only problem is that they did not have enough revenue to sustain their huge operational and marketing costs.  As a result, Manchester United took legal action to recover roughly 9 million Euros in unpaid funds from the Agents for MoPlay after they entered ‘administration’.  MoPlay itself could no longer service the player accounts that it held, and it thus sold their databases of players to other betting companies that could.  

There is a lesson here.  If you are going to partake in online sports betting, only look to play with long-established, reputable brands.  All the operators that SNBET recommends for New Zealand have been in business for about 20 years or even longer. They have stood the test of time.

Which new or ‘young’ bookie brands might best be avoided until proven?

Given the desire to attract New Zealand players, there are a lot of new betting brands that accept players in New Zealand and offer NZD accounts. One of the most visible brands, through their Italian Serie A, LaLiga and Bundesliga international TV marketing deals is Russia-based '1XBET', which has proven to be one of the most disreputable online bookmakers. Furthermore, several new Russia-based brands, with and without connections to 1XBET have been established and have become visible on "sportsbook review" resources targeted at New Zealanders, in order to scam them out of their money. Some of these "review resources" are actually owned by the Russian bookies themselves, so they are just touting their own scammy brands.

Several other relatively young brands can also be found as ‘recommended’ in the poor, but highly-visible New Zealand sportsbook review resources, or within sites that run pay-per-click Google ads for popular ‘New Zealand betting site’ keyword search strings.  Young & often scam brands get listed because they offer the reviewer an even larger commission than those available from trustworthy sportsbook brands. As with the example of MoPlay above, you may wish to avoid young brands like those in the following list, until they have proven their ability to stay in business over a long period of time, with a sustained period of trustworthy operation:

1XBET, 20Bet, 22Bet, BankonBet, Betiton, BetMaster.io, Betonic, Betrophy, BetWinner, CampoBet, Casinia, Cobrabet, FEZBet, GreatWin, LibraBet, MELBET, Mr.Play, N1 Bet (& variations), NineCasino, OceanBet, Powbet, Rabona, Rocketpot, Shangrila, Slots Palace, Thrillsy, Wazamba, Zetcasino, Zulabet.

If you see any of these brands being promoted by a "sportsbook review" site, ask yourself if they really have your best interests at heart, given promotion of such brands.  Some of these operators are also promoted as "crypto sportsbooks". The nature of blockchain technology makes scams even more probable with these sites. Finding trustworthy "Bitcoin sports betting sites for New Zealand" can be even tougher than the normal kind.

What is the main lesson to learn in order to avoid New Zealand sports betting scams?

The lesson is that even if you want more choice beyond our eight recommended brands as you search Google for New Zealand Dollar betting sites, you need to be really careful with what you read - use a skeptical eye. You don’t have to worry about this at our recommended brands, which all support NZD accounts and payment methods. 

However, if you decide to play elsewhere, look to see what year your company of interest was founded and look to understand if a large & reputable company owns that brand.  Ideally you want to avoid betting companies that are less than 10 years old.  Then, when you look to register your account, there should be a way to select your account currency.  You should ensure that the company explicitly mentions New Zealand Dollars or ‘NZD’ - rather than simply ‘$’ as this will most likely refer to US Dollars from an "international" provider. If no attention is paid to an account currency option in your registration screen, NZD is not likely available. With no NZD accounts, you will be hit with hidden currency exchange fees on every deposit or withdrawal.

Here is a brief summary of our top New Zealand Dollar betting sites

bet365: Established in 2000, it is likely the world's premier betting brand, with over 90 million account holders around the world. Regulated in numerous national markets, it is the only brand that is a legal Australian brand, that also offers NZD accounts, but through their international, Gibraltar-based site, so you get their proper betting and gaming platform, not the highly-limited Aussie version.

Betway: Established in 2006 & has become a global sports betting brand, which is now regulated in numerous jurisdictions around the world. Its parent company is traded on the NYSE.

MarathonBet: Founded in 1997, they are now licensed in several European regulated markets, but serve New Zealand from their international jurisdiction. Known for their high odds values, relative to the competition.

BetVictor: Established in 1946 in the UK as "Victor Chandler". Through its Premier League brand visibility, it has gained a good number of New Zealand-based customers, but football is not their only focus, as they offer a dedicated version just for NZ.

Casumo: Founded in 2012, they began as a mobile-forward casino, but looked to add a top-class sportsbook. They also have a dedicated site version for New Zealand.

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