Tabcorp, Australia's biggest bookmaker, is "teaming up with The Sun newspaper" to enter the U.K.'s £3B ($4.24B)-a-year online gambling market, according to Jamie Smyth of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough, who "cut his teeth in the industry" at Ladbrokes in the U.K., said, "It is a natural step for us. We have worked with News Ltd. closely in Australia and built up a high degree of trust. They have one of the strongest brands in the U.K. with half of the U.K. betting population regularly reading or engaging with The Sun." Sun Bets is scheduled to launch within six months, with Tabcorp "providing the gambling platform and products while News UK promotes the joint venture through its titles." Under the deal, Tabcorp will provide News UK "with a share of the revenue from Sun Bets." Tabcorp is spending A$20M ($14.5M) over 12 months to get the U.K. venture "off the ground in what has become one of the world’s most competitive online gambling markets." Web-based revenues are worth £3B-a-year "and there are 427 licensed operators" in the U.K., according to research by the Gambling Commission. Tabcorp said that its deal with The Sun "ensures it will not have to spend a lot of energy establishing a new brand." Instead it "can focus on delivering innovative products and good customer service." Attenborough: "Brand and trust are so important. You can't carve out a share of a new market without a brand people know." But "not everyone is convinced that Sun Bets will prove a hit." Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Gavin Kelleher said, "The odds are against Sun Bets being able to take market share" (FT, 2/22).