Pools scheme moves to Nauru

Mr. George Pearce, who recently failed in efforts to set up a Si million football pools operation on Norfolk Island, now appears to have made a spectacular success of similar plans for Nauru.

In September the Nauru Parliament passed the Sporting Pools Bill, giving Nauru power to licence Mr. Pearce’s company, Pacific Sporting Pools Limited, for 10 years. Under arrangements with Nauru, PSPL will run an operation from Nauru, initially based on the Australian Rules football season, starting in April next year. The bill may prevent the Nauruans themselves from entering the pools.

The company, with Mr. Pearce and a business associate, Colonel W. Mayberry, as directors, is to pay all entry money received to an independent stakeholder appointed by the Nauruan Republic, who will disburse prizes, pay a licence fee of five per cent, of gross receipts to Nauru and return the surplus funds to the promoters. The licence fee will rise gradually to 22i per cent, after 10 years.

Also, as a complementary part of the project, a hotel will be built on Nauru, to accommodate staff who will be brought to Nauru to supervise the pools operations, but also for tourists. It will be Nauru’s first hotel. Nauru expects an initial income of $25,000 from the whole project by June 30, 1969.

News of the Nauru deal closely followed announcements from Norfolk Island that the Norfolk Island Council had opposed the intro duction of football pools to be operated by another of Mr. Pearce’s companies, Sloop Ltd., which was recently registered on the island ( PIM, July, p. 28). The council had waited until receiving advice from the Australian Government on the Sloop proposals before stating its position. Thus this was the end of the Norfolk scheme.