Photo: Rob Comiskey. Supplied.

TAB betting facilities have been removed from five Comiskey Group hotels after the company refused to sign a new five-year agreement with Tabcorp.

The 20-year partnership ended on July 1 after the previous agreement expired on June 30.

Comiskey Group said the proposed new contract included higher weekly venue fees, reduced commissions and mandatory upfront spending of between $15,000 and $21,000 per hotel for TAB equipment that would remain owned by Tabcorp.

The group also objected to clauses it said would transfer some regulatory liabilities to venue operators.

TAB facilities have now closed at Eatons Hill Hotel, Sandstone Point Hotel, Samford Hotel, The Imperial Hotel Eumundi and Dakabin Hotel.

All other venue operations remain unchanged, including food and beverage, gaming machines, Keno and live entertainment.

Comiskey says new contract was unsustainable

Comiskey Group director Rob Comiskey said the proposed agreement would have cost the business hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

“The new contract would have cost our business hundreds of thousands of dollars each year through higher fees, lower commissions and additional costs,” Mr Comiskey said.

“We couldn’t justify signing it because it was unfair and not commercially sustainable.”

Mr Comiskey said hotels already carried the staffing, security, utilities, infrastructure and daily operational costs required to provide retail wagering.

He said the new model asked venues to contribute more money while accepting greater risk and receiving lower returns.

“At some point, that stops being a partnership,” he said.

Mr Comiskey also alleged Tabcorp had withheld $109,000 owed to the group for two years and said the money would not be released unless the company signed the new agreement.

“We agreed to a co-contribution for upgraded TAB facilities in our venue, yet they’ve withheld those funds as leverage,” he said.

“That’s just poor form.”

New venues redesigned without TAB

Comiskey Group is developing two new Queensland venues, the Country Club Hotel at Strathpine and Aura Hotel on the Sunshine Coast.

Both venues had originally been designed to include TAB facilities but will now proceed without them.

The group said the former TAB areas across its existing hotels would be repurposed for alternative entertainment uses.

Mr Comiskey said the decision would inconvenience some regular customers but argued every part of the business had to remain commercially viable.

“We’re disappointed it has come to this,” he said.

“But our responsibility is to ensure every part of the venue stacks up commercially and delivers value for guests.”

Wider concerns for Queensland venues

Mr Comiskey said other hotel operators were facing similar decisions under the new agreement.

He described the situation as a “David and Goliath” fight, with some venues concerned they could lose customers if they removed TAB services.

“This isn’t isolated,” he said.

“Across the industry, operators are being asked to absorb higher costs, lower returns and greater risk, despite already carrying the operational load of retail wagering.”

He also warned the changes could affect the wider Queensland racing industry if fewer hotels considered retail wagering financially viable.

“This is a short-term profit play that risks long-term damage to the Queensland racing industry,” he said.

“If you strip viability from the venues that drive turnover and engagement, you inevitably weaken the ecosystem that depends on them.”