Australian senator calls for ban on gambling ads on match-day jerseys

Many NRL clubs still have gambling sponsors on their jerseys.

04/14/23

The independent senator David Pocock, backed by anti-gambling advocates, has called for the ban of all gambling ads on match-day jerseys.

Australia.- The English Premier League has recently decided to voluntarily limit sponsorship of gambling in order to avoid a complete ban. The news reached Australia, which is embroiled in a debate about gambling ads and their link to sports.

Following the news, independent senator David Pocock, along with anti-gambling campaigners, called for a ban on gambling advertisements on Australian club jerseys.

Many NRL clubs still have gambling sponsors on their jerseys, including the Manly Sea Eagles, which has the PointsBet logo in bold font across its front. Tabcorp sponsors the Queensland Cowboys jersey and has a small logo on the ACT Brumbies rugby union shirt. Sydney-based BlueBet appears on the Dolphins jersey while PalmerBet sponsors the Newcastle Knights shirt.

Adam Rytenskild, Tabcorp’s chief executive, recently told a parliamentary inquiry that the company would be happy to stop this sponsorship if it were banned for all bookmakers at once. He even stated, “The difficulty for us as an operator, especially being the operator that has been here for a long time and needing to adapt to all of this competition that’s in the market, is that if it’s not enforced consistently and across the board, then we have to participate or wither on the vine and not exist anymore.”

According to The Guardian, Pocock, a former Wallaby captain turned ACT senator, said Australia has the highest per capita gambling losses in the world, and “three-quarters of children aged 8-16 who watch sport think betting on sport is normal.” He added, “Clearly, this is an issue people are concerned about, and we must ensure we are protecting children from gambling advertising. We have much work to do to ensure that children are not being exposed to gambling advertising.”

Carol Bennett, chief executive of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, said state or federal governments need to ban gambling logos on jerseys, but she doesn’t think it will happen anytime soon.

She also stated: “If Australian governments were serious about reducing gambling harm, they would also be pressuring some of our major sporting leagues to restrict sponsorship, but given the close relationship between gambling companies and governments in Australia, such a move is very unlikely.”

Bennett said the recent decision by UK Premier League clubs to ban match-day front-of-shirt sponsorship deals with gambling companies from the summer of 2026 is a positive development, but she stressed that stronger measures are needed.

While she acknowledged that this move is a “great first step” in addressing community concerns, Bennett stated that the steps taken so far are “tiny and woefully inadequate.” She also expressed disappointment that the ban only applies to one part of the player’s jersey and was introduced after government pressure threatening to ban all gambling sponsorships.

In this article:

GAMBLING REGULATION