The Rugby League chief executive’s comments come amid revelations more than 500,000 Australians have gone to their banks and asked to be frozen out of making gambling transactions, while 5000 punters have contacted Sportsbet requesting to be banned from the online bookmaker.

Mr Abdo fronted a federal probe into online gambling alongside his AFL counterpart on Tuesday where the two leaders defended their codes’ lucrative ties to the gaming industry.

Mr Abdo told the inquiry the NRL was “very supportive” of prohibiting credit cards for online wagering — a proposal crossbench MPs have recently revived after federal parliament began considering the idea more than two years ago.

But he said the code didn’t support banning gambling ads altogether.

“We support further exploration on the type of wagering advertising that’s permitted. We think it needs to be balanced, we think it needs to be data-led, as opposed to a blanket ban,” he said.

The parliamentary inquiry is being held as politicians, health experts, gambling addicts and footy fans push for a crackdown on gambling ads and raise questions about whether the AFL and NRL should rely on multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals with betting companies.

Mr Abdo said the NRL had taken a “leadership position” on gambling and had exceeded its regulatory requirements since it first partnered with Sportsbet — its principle wagering sponsor — eight years go.

These measures included prohibiting the bookmaking giant from “above the line” advertising at major events, requiring players to undergo “significant” gambling education as well as making the NRL website age verified to stop children viewing Sportsbet ads, he said.

Aussie rules chief executive Gillon McLachlan has also stared down calls to ban gambling advertising and told the inquiry on Tuesday that cutting ties with online bookmakers would result in an irreversible financial hit to the game and compromise match integrity.

At the same hearing, Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh revealed half a million Australians had requested to be placed on self-exclusion schemes for problem gamblers to have themselves frozen out of making gambling transactions.

While Australians are known to experience the world’s biggest gambling losses per capita, Ms Bligh still said she was surprised to find out so many people were asking to be frozen out of gambling services when this tool hadn’t been promoted to customers.

Data collected the ABA collected from the big four banks as well as Bendigo and Adelaide banks indicated more than 775,000 debit and credit cards have had gambling blocks placed upon them by bank customers.

Given this figure may include some customers placing blocks on multiple cards, and does not include data from all banks that provide this option to customers, the ABA “conservatively” estimates 500,000 people have placed gambling freezes on one or more of their cards.

The ABA says the number of gambling blocks on debit and credit cards from the four major banks alone has grown 67 per cent in just nine months, from 365,000 in May last year.

The online gambling inquiry has also heard evidence about a wide range of gambling harms beyond immediate financial consequences, including psychological and physical damage and the negative effect problem betting can have on relationships and families.

Originally published as NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo fronts inquiry into online gambling