The growth in Victorians\u2019 online betting losses was driven by Covid-19 restrictions in Melbourne that led land-based casinos and gambling venues to close their doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- The state of Victoria has shared its Mid-Year Financial Report in which it reveals that Victorians\u2019 losses to online bookmakers rose to over AU$1.4bn (US$1.07bn)<\/strong> in the second half of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victorians\u2019 online betting losses increased by AU$375m from the same period in 2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The news comes a few days after the\u00a0Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade<\/strong> reported\u00a0that poker machine player losses in Northern Territory reached AU$25m (US$19.03m) in July 2020<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0up 52 per cent from the prior year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The city of Melbourne spent four months locked down due to the Covid-19 pandemic<\/strong>, a countermeasure that could have accelerated the transition of gamblers to online platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Alliance for Gambling Reform<\/strong>, the increase in Victorians\u2019 losses was also fueled by an “aggressive gambling industry advertising campaign,” something\u00a0the group has been fighting against<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Local media reported that\u00a0Brent Jackson<\/strong>, chief executive of industry lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia,\u00a0denied there had been an increase in gambling ads<\/strong>\u00a0during Covid-19 lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Margaret Quixley<\/strong>, acting executive director for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, told The Age newspaper: “We knew that when [gambling] venues shut\u00a0there would be a bombardment of gambling ads<\/strong>\u00a0and that\u00a0there was a real risk of this kind of outcome<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The growth in Victorians\u2019 online betting losses was driven by Covid-19 restrictions in Melbourne that led land-based casinos and gambling venues to close their doors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":16782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Victoria, Australia, reported a significant increase in online betting losses, reaching over AU$1.4bn in H2 2020, primarily driven by Covid-19 lockdowns that closed land-based venues. This shift to online platforms, coupled with alleged aggressive advertising campaigns, led to a AU$375m rise from the prior year. The report highlights the financial impact of pandemic-induced behavioral changes on gambling expenditure and raises questions about regulatory oversight.","focusai_entities":"Alliance for Gambling Reform, Responsible Wagering Australia, Brent Jackson, Margaret Quixley, Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria, Melbourne, Northern Territory","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), product_ux (0.7), marketing_crm (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Response Outlook","query":"What specific regulatory actions or legislative proposals are anticipated from the Victorian government or federal authorities in response to the reported surge in online gambling losses and advertising concerns?"},{"label":"Operator Strategy Impact","query":"How are major iGaming operators in Australia adjusting their responsible gambling frameworks, marketing strategies, and B2C licensing approaches in light of increased online engagement and public scrutiny?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,28,158],"tags":[757,4138,233],"class_list":["post-16781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-casino-news","category-slider-home","tag-online-casino","tag-online-gambling","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16781"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16803,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16781\/revisions\/16803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}