New Zealand betting sites 2026 - Legal & safe bookies

Although they were able to for many years as enshrined in law, New Zealanders may no longer legally play at offshore sports betting sites as of mid-2025 onward. The only legal online bookie brands for New Zealand are TAB and Betcha.  Even if you wanted to find reputable offshore bookie brands that actually serve Kiwis properly, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack now, as a result of new legislation which we highlight below.

Aotearoa is about to create a locally regulated market of online casinos. As a result, Australian sportsbooks that once served Kiwis have now stopped accepting their sports bets. International gaming brands like bet365 and Betway have shuttered their sportsbooks to Kiwis too.  These kinds of leading gaming brands want to both respect the laws around New Zealand online sports betting, but they also want to participate in the legal and regulated New Zealand online casino market.

This casino-only legislative development has really thrown a spanner in the works for Kiwi online sports bettors, that now have essentially no choice in providers.  Although the really well-known offshore sportsbook brands are now off the table for New Zealanders, on the positive side, many of them remain open to Kiwis with their online casinos - but not all providers are created equal. We at SNBET.co.nz know the NZ online casinos that offer Kiwi players a premium experience with all the games you want, but crucially, also offer New Zealand Dollar accounts and payment methods so you can avoid costly FX fees.

If you want to learn more about what happened to the offshore sports betting situation in New Zealand, we discuss it, and the brands that formerly served it below.

What happened? The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 made TAB the only legal NZ sports betting provider

Although Kiwis were previously free to bet at so-called offshore sportsbook brands, The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 changed things. TAB and its related brand Betcha are now the only legal destinations for online sports betting in New Zealand. All major gaming brands that previously served Kiwis, have now closed their sportsbooks. We discuss some of the well-known brands and their current and past situations regarding the New Zealand market.

Which Australian bookies accept players from New Zealand?

Online sportsbooks based in the Australian regulatory regime will now no longer serve players based in New Zealand. Their parent companies want to enter the impending regulated New Zealand online casino market - so they've stopped serving Kiwis via Australia. This is because TAB and Betcha will remain the only legal NZ online sportsbook options going forward. The biggest brands that fall into this category include bet365, BetFair, Ladbrokes, Neds, PalmerBet, SportsBet, Unibet, Betr, BlueBet and PointsBet.  We touched upon each of these operators with reviews from a New Zealand perspective, just click on the name to read more about what happened, and where things currently stand.  

Most of these brands were actually not great sportsbook options for Kiwis to begin with. Aussie bookies have a lot of limitations placed on what they can offer their customers as compared to brands based elsewhere, like those we once recommended. Australia-based brands could not offer NZD accounts, online in-play betting, other kinds of gaming, or new customer betting offers. 

Given the close geographic proximity, New Zealanders have absorbed decades of advertisements by Australian bookmakers within Australian sporting broadcasts. So, when someone in New Zealand looked for a betting site beyond the TAB, oftentimes the natural movement was to register at one of these Aussie sites, but given these drawbacks, that was pretty clearly a poor choice in many respects. Now, it does not matter since they've all stopped serving Kiwis.

Do any UK sportsbooks serve customers in New Zealand?

Betting sites that serve the UK tend to be situated in the Gibraltar or Malta gaming regimes for their "international" customers, like those in New Zealand. However, due to the incoming online casino regulations in New Zealand, in mid-2025, UK brands like bet365, Betway, Betano and BetVictor that have been highly visible with English Premier League ads and sponsorships, have shuttered their sportsbook platforms for Kiwi customers, while they've left their online casinos open as allowed by New Zealand law.

A brand like BetFred, which has been the sponsor of global football giant, Manchester United over many seasons, does not accept any registrations from New Zealand players for their gaming platforms.  It's the same story for PaddyPower, which also bars players from New Zealand completely. 

Other UK-focused gaming brands that used to serve New Zealand-based customers with their sportsbook from international jurisdictions, like LeoVegas, 888sport and William Hill continue to offer their online casinos to New Zealand players, but in line with the new regulations, they have also closed their sportsbooks to Kiwis, but maintain their online casinos.

Do US sportsbooks serve customers in New Zealand?

No. When it comes to the main sportsbook brands that legally serve various US state markets, none of BetMGM, DraftKings, ESPN BET or FanDuel serve players outside their local state jurisdictions in any way. For example, if one of these brands is licensed to serve New York State, the given sportsbook platform for NY will only serve players that are physically located in NY. They do not accept any manner of "international" customers, like those from New Zealand. In other words, US bookmaker brands are not "offshore" betting sites.

Biggest scam betting sites for New Zealand

With the loss of so many reputable sports betting sites that were once open to New Zealanders, this leaves unsuspecting Kiwis open to the hundreds of scam betting sites that will remain open to serve New Zealand. Two such brands have recently gained huge visibility, which need to be highlighted for avoidance. If you're a football fan that watches LaLiga from Spain, Serie A from Italy, or the Bundesliga from Germany, you may have become familiar with betting brands that are displayed within the electronically-added signage as integrated into these respective international broadcasts.  These scam betting brands, 1XBET and MELBET, which are based in Russia, are related to one another.  Since their ads are added electronically to the football broadcasts, they are not actually seen in their local jurisdictions by people in the football grounds. 

1XBET and MELBET look to prey upon international customers that reside in jurisdictions that have not regulated their market for online gambling providers, or those that look to establish a monopoly, like in New Zealand. Since New Zealanders fall into this category, these brands also frequently appear as "top picks" on shady "sportsbook review" sites with pages targeted at Kiwis.  Rest assured that neither of these brands are good options for Kiwis.  If you were to play there and be deemed a significant winner, you would never see any of your winnings. We've reviewed both sites from a New Zealand perspective. They both feature within our write-up on the scam betting sites for New Zealand that should be avoided. You won't get scammed at locally licensed and regulated betting sites TAB and Betcha.

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