New Zealand is one of those countries that’s home to plenty of online sports betting sites that offer players a chance to wager on both major and fringe sports. Most of the bookmakers that Kiwi bettors bet with are licensed in Australia and have in place some strong industry reputations.

While the topic of betting online has been before New Zealand’s parliament for several years, it’s 100% legal to engage in online sports betting in New Zealand since 2017. Now, there are plenty of sites that are allow New Zealanders to place online sports bets on almost any sporting event that they can think of.

Top Online Sports Betting Sites in New Zealand

New Zealand is home to plenty of avid online sports betting fans. With New Zealand known for some of the most popular sports such as rugby, cricket and football, it comes as no surprise to find hundreds of thousands of betting fans too.

With plenty of online betting enthusiasts hungry to wager on sports are several bookies hot on their heels. There are more than two dozen of them in NZ. However, you may want to play at the following top online betting sites:

• Ladbrokes
• Sportsbet
• Neds
• PlayUp
• PalmerBet
• Bet365
• Unibet
• Betfair

How we Rate Top NZ Online Betting Sites

We look at several important factors before mentioning or recommending an online sports betting site in New Zealand for our readers. Are you looking to place online bets at a NZ site but don’t know the parameters to look for? Don’t worry. We are here to help you.

For you to ensure that you have an unforgettable online sports betting experience in New Zealand, several important things come into play. Below are important elements that we look for in an online NZ betting site before recommending it to you:

• Licensing and regulation – First, before we mention or recommend a site, we always check to ensure that they are licensed and under some form of regulation. We steer away from unlicensed sites, a good number of them which happen to be risky to wager with. All the sites we mention here are licensed and regulated, meaning that you shouldn’t have any worries betting there.
• Available betting options and markets – We also consider how huge or limited the betting options and markets of a bookmaker looks like. As a bettor, you shouldn’t be a customer to a site where your betting options and markets are limited. They should be huge enough so that you find the one that you are highly familiar with.
• Available banking methods – As a player, you should be able to fund your account and withdraw your winnings using a method that you find safe and convenient. When rating a betting site in NZ, we consider the available banking methods that they support. Again, we only mention those online NZ betting sites with a plethora of betting options to choose from.
• Attentive customer support – Should run into some difficulties or have some questions that require clarity, you should be able to reach the support reps via several efficient methods. We rate NZ bookies based on how they treat their customers and the support channels they have. All the bookies you find here have some of the best customer support departments in NZ.
• Safety and reliability – When wagering online, the security of your personal and financial information is crucial. You need to wager at a reliable site where your information has no chance of finding its way to third parties.
• Mobile Apps – Mobile apps are a convenient way of betting since you can place your bets fast while on the move. All the sites we mention here have decent mobile betting apps to enable you place your bets while on the move.

Online Sports Betting Laws in New Zealand

There’s always some confusion when it comes to the legality of online sports betting, regardless of where you are in the universe. The same is true when it comes to New Zealand. Matters to do with internet betting in New Zealand is under the watch of the New Zealand Racing Board.

This body provides racing and other sporting markets through the TAB. However, international online bookmakers also accept Kiwi players since they operate under NZ Gambling Act 2003.

The acts states that it isn’t explicitly illegal for a player to wager at offshore sports betting sites. Plenty of these online betting sites operate in Australia, where the legal betting landscape is quite similar, making it safe and legal to punt online.

Horse racing, the greyhounds and harness racing in New Zealand

NZ is made for everything to do with horse racing. Both horse and harness racing happen on almost a daily basis in New Zealand. Some of the biggest racetracks in NZ include Ellerslie and Canterbury.

Even though harness racing seems to have decreased in popularity in neighboring countries, New Zealand still boast of a proud tradition here. In fact, Kiwi horses have been dominating such events.

The entire racing codes in New Zealand, harness racing, thoroughbreds and greyhounds can easily be wagered online at plenty of bookmakers that accept such bets. You can legally and safely place bets on such events and go on to collect your winnings if you get lucky.

Mobile Sports Betting for NZ Players

Online mobile sports betting is on the rise in New Zealand. Unlike before where bettors had to spend several hours behind a desktop or PC to place bets, such isn’t the case today.

Now, we have mobile betting, New Zealand being one of the jurisdictions to heavily embrace mobile betting. All the sites that we’ve mentioned here have their own individual betting apps. These apps are all free to download and compatible with Apple and Android devices.

If you don’t wish to have an app, you have the freedom of accessing the mobile site through your browser for the same betting experience. However, having the app makes many things easier.

However, you can go ahead and sign up, deposit, and initiate withdrawals using either the app or the mobile site of any online bookmaker listed above.

Online Sports Betting Payment Options for NZD Bettors

New Zealand operators support plenty of banking options, meaning that Kiwi bettors will always have a plethora of banking options to use. For instance, the New Zealand dollar is available at all the above online sports betting sites, something that makes betting easier with them. It means that there’s no need to find your preferred payment methods where you’ll get the best conversion rates.

masterCard and Visa are ideal if you want speedy deposits. However, not every Kiwi bettor would prefer to have their financial details online – though all the sites we mention above employ the use of modern encryption technology.

Web wallets are ideal for players who prefer an added layer of security, as they don’t link a player’s bank account to the sportsbook. Skrill and Neteller are highly popular and they take only a few minutes to sign up.

If you don’t want to connect a bank account at all, you may choose to use prepaid methods, such as EntroPay or PaySafeCard.
Bank transfers are also available at plenty of NZ online sports betting sites.

Customer Support for Online NZD Bettors

Customer support is paramount when it comes to online sports betting. There needs to be a means of assisting customers should they run into some difficulties or have questions that need clarification.

Most of the bookies that we mention here have in place some of the most attentive customer support reps at standby to offer Kiwi players with any assistance. Generally, you should be able to reach online New Zealand bookmakers via the following methods:

• Live Chat
• Email
• Telephone
• Contact form