The Challenge Presented:

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, and TAB needed to own it. With more matches than ever before screened at Australia friendly times and hospitality brand circling the tournament, the challenge was to launch the World Cup with TAB and plant a clear flag: the best place to watch the Cup this year is at a TAB venue.

The launch also had to carry a second story: the debut of TAB LIVE, Tabcorp’s most significant product innovation in a decade, a unique in-play in-venue wagering product that makes the experience of watching live sport together even better. The brief demanded a moment that felt like genuine entertainment rather than a media event, gave Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan a platform and delivered it all within budget and a single-day live event window.

The Strategy Created:

We created The TAB Shoot Out, a live penalty shootout competition staged at the Sports Bar at The Star, Sydney, on Friday 5 June 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Rather than telling people TAB venues were the home of the World Cup, we showed them, by bringing the drama of the tournament’s most iconic moment, the penalty shootout, into the venue itself.

The venue was transformed into a football arena, with a custom AstroTurf pitch and goal built around the existing stage and a full TAB brand takeover across one mega screen, pitch side LEDs and eight projector screens, showing exactly what the World Cup will look and feel like in a TAB venue. TAB LIVE terminals were active in-venue, letting punters experience the new in-play product as the action unfolded.

The talent mix was built to bridge sport, entertainment and culture: Socceroos legend Mark Bosnich in goal, Archie Thompson as MC, and a shootout field featuring Robbie Slater, Elise Kellond-Knight, Michael O’Loughlin, Justin Horo and trick shot creator Tom Harris. The centrepiece: Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan officially announcing TAB LIVE to the room, then stepping up to take a penalty himself. 

The Strength Achieved:

The event delivered TAB’s national launch moment for the FIFA World Cup 2026, positioning TAB venues as the home of the tournament while debuting TAB LIVE with the CEO announcement, live product trial in-venue and a content engine built into the format itself.

Most powerfully, it secured the participation of Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan, who personally announced TAB LIVE and stepped up to take a penalty in front of the room. A CEO putting himself on the pitch is the clearest signal possible of how significant this launch was to the business, and it gave the event a genuine headline moment rather than a staged photo opportunity.

The format was built to keep working long after the final whistle. Key strengths delivered:

• A working TAB venue transformed into a full World Cup arena, giving customers, talent and media a tangible answer to the question of where to watch the Cup this year.
• A talent line-up that bridged football, NRL, broadcast and creator audiences in a single moment, from Socceroos legend Mark Bosnich and Archie Thompson through to NRL names and trick-shot creator Tom Harris.
• TAB LIVE made real and tangible, with the new in-play product live and usable in-venue rather than explained in a deck, putting it in customers’ hands at the exact moment it launched.
• A content engine baked into the format, with the penalty shootout, talent and CEO moment captured as a sizzle reel and photography library for ongoing social, earned and owned storytelling well beyond the day itself.