Most Australians want to enjoy watching sport without being bombarded by inducements to bet on it, and support restrictions on gambling advertising, according to recent research.
They don’t want their children talking about the odds and the bookmakers more than the game or the players. They might enjoy an occasional bet, but they don’t want wagering to become the measure of being a real fan.
To date, concern has been focused on sporting broadcasts, but sports betting ads are also unavoidable on social media and online, and will inevitably become more so if broadcast advertising is eventually restricted.
Guardian Australia readers have told us they want to read our sports coverage without being assailed by wagering ads, and we are announcing today that we will no longer be accepting them. We want to end any reliance on gambling revenue, particularly as we report on the mounting demands for sporting codes and broadcasters to reconsider their dependency.
Because for many codes, and many media outlets, revenue from gambling ads and promotions has become an addiction. Almost $300m was spent on gambling advertising in Australia in 2021.
The Victorian Responsible Gambling Association has calculated there were 948 gambling ads a day on free-to-air television in Victoria in 2021. (Free TV, the peak body for the broadcasters, says the maximum number of ads a viewer could see is 158, and the number they are likely to see while watching for two hours is two or three.)
It’s a highly profitable business, because, as the new government-mandated warning on gambling ads tells us, “chances are you’re about to lose”. Australians’ losses on legal gambling in 2021 were estimated at $25bn. Per capita, we lose more on gambling than citizens of any other country.
Last month the chairman of the national rugby league, Peter V’Landys, described the sport loved by generations of Australians as “wagering content” – not as a game of incredible skill and physicality, but simply as a means to place a bet.
As well as earning from the sponsorship deals with their “official wagering partners”, the sporting codes now get a cut of gambling turnover from each match.
There is clear and overwhelming evidence that saturation advertising increases the number of gamblers for whom placing a bet is not just an occasional fun flutter, but rather a debilitating and harmful addiction. The ability to gamble at any time on a phone makes overcoming an addiction even harder.
During the pandemic, the increase in sports betting led to a spike in harmful gambling among young men. More than 70% of male gamblers aged 18 to 35 are at risk of harm, according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Politicians are reacting to public concern and demanding a significant strengthening of the existing voluntary advertising code.
The parliamentary inquiry into online gambling harm, set up by the government, has heard powerful evidence of online gambling harm, including harrowing testimony from gamblers for whom advertising made their attempts to quit far more difficult.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, used his budget speech in reply to call for gambling ads to be banned before, during and after sporting matches.
It’s one idea likely to be adopted by the government after it receives the recommendations from the inquiry.
The teal independent Zoe Daniel has introduced a private member’s bill to ban gambling advertising on television and radio broadcasting, including streaming. The idea was strongly backed by other teals and crossbenchers.
Many countries have banned gambling advertising altogether, and the pressure for change in Australia is now intense.
But sports betting companies are seeking to minimise new restrictions and the commercial broadcasters are resisting any crackdown. Free TV says “any further restrictions would have significant revenue implications for Australian TV networks and their ability to invest in sports; news and current affairs; and Australian content”.
The Guardian’s global policy to reject gambling advertising will apply to all online, audio, video and print ads, and all forms of gambling other than lotteries. It means Guardian Australia will now be able to report on the unfolding debate about gambling harm in this country certain that we are not contributing to the problem.
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