Can Australians distinguish sport from betting?

An ongoing parliamentary inquiry has placed online gambling, as well as gambling harm, under scrutiny. The investigation is also reviewing the gambling regulations and existing customer protections and, quite recently, erected stricter warnings in gambling advertisements.

Several groups have targeted sports betting platforms and asked that advertisements in sporting events and sport-related broadcasts be banned.

The effect of gambling adverts on young people is an issue, as underage individuals are usually exposed to these ads in sporting events. Recovering gambling addicts are also put at risk due to the presence of the ads.

According to Dr. Nicholas Richardson, a lecturer in Arts, Design & Architecture advertising, and cultural studies at UNSW, a discussion concerning sports spectatorship and the place of gambling within is due. He said that to tackle the topic, the allure of gambling and its connection to sporting events needed to be examined.

Dr. Richardson claimed the conversation could be integral in seeing some “changes in the nature of gambling ads” and behavioural changes among gamblers.

Companies who have to pay high amounts for sports content licenses, as well as contracts, usually use advertising to reimburse the amount. However, most times, the highest bidders are organisations behind the promotional advertisements of dubious products and services.

“Advertising throughout sports content has always had an undercurrent of subversive male behaviour: things that blokes do. It used to be smoking ads; then it was alcohol – these were the previous male ‘vices’ that underpinned much of the advertising in sports,” Dr. Richardson said.

“Of course, these days we no longer have the Winfield Cup in the NRL or the Benson & Hedges World Series in cricket due to hard regulation and cultural renegotiation of what place smoking has in our society.”

The lecturer pointed out sports gambling ads’ cunning idea of capitalising on the Australian culture of watching sports. They have managed to build on a profitable cultural market and form a sturdy link between gambling and sports.

“The ad creators of sports gambling platforms put forward that having a bet or a ‘punt’, as it’s colloquially known, is a necessary part of mateship in our culture,” Dr. Richardson explained.

“Even some responsible gambling ads operate through the same frame of mateship – that gambling is something you do with friends, and it’s tied into the overall entertainment package when you watch sports. And for many, the image projected by advertisers may well be realised. Of course, the reality for problem gamblers is often the exact opposite.”

Dr. Richardson pointed out that the tobacco industry previously attempted to pair smoking with sports. Still, that way of thinking was altered after the role of smoking was changed in society and watching sports.

To separate gambling from sports, something similar will have to occur; however, this case of not as black and white as smoking. Unlike smoking, gambling is more of a societal issue than a health concern. Dr. Richardson posited a “collective conversation about gambling’s place in society as well as in sports” to resolve this.

Earlier on, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) placed restrictions concerning when gambling adverts could be aired on live streams and live sports broadcasts. Despite this, the Nielsen data revealed that there was increasing expenditure outside the time slots of live sports broadcast.

READ: ACMA sanctions two major TV networks over gambling ad breaches

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation announced that in 2021, the gambling industry in Australia invested $287.2 million in advertising. The amount is considerably increased from $89.7 million, which the sectors spent merely a decade before.

The foundation also claimed that the increase in gambling advertisements over the past ten years could be traced to several online platforms making provisions for advertising opportunities.

A decision by the High Court in 2008 also contributed to this by allowing bookmakers in Australia to offer bets anywhere. This placed a strain on states and territories in their attempt to prohibit advertising from areas in Australia.

The recent inquiry into gambling, along with related ads, is focused on its presence and continued spread in the online world. Several social media users have come forward to complain about the difficulty they faced trying to recover from a gambling addiction, especially in a world of big data and algorithms. This has resulted in gambling ads tailored to their prior preferences popping up in their numerous online spaces.

“Online advertising platforms that use big data and algorithms are blunt tools and don’t operate subtly. The data on individuals that websites and apps collect are very broadly applied. So if someone visits a gambling website once, or even a gambling addiction recovery resource, they could consequently become trapped by gambling ads on their browser for a long time,” Dr. Richardson said.

“This is the worst of the advertising industry, and it’s obvious what they are doing in their targeting. As an advertising professional, it’s not the type of advertising I want to see in the industry.”

Unlike a sports field or racecourse, gambling does not have to be done in a physical location. If they are equipped with their credit card and internet access, interested parties can place bets and wagers anywhere, regardless of the time. Dr. Richardson noted that this made it cumbersome to ban people who display signs of gambling problems.

The lecturer further revealed that merely implementing bans on gambling ads and labelling them wrong will have little effect on the prevailing problem. He pointed out people who, unlike problem gamblers saw the activity as “a bit of harmless fun”.

In addition to the bans, Dr. Richardson posited that “attitudes, values and beliefs” should be brought along for the ride, as well as massive campaigns and counter-advertising work. He claimed the responsible gambling ads present were not effective in showing just how harmful gambling was.

“Rather than trying to demonstrate the bad side of gambling in a strong or shocking way, my preference is for clever ads that get to the heart of the issue and unpack how embedded gambling or other behaviours are in our culture,” Dr. Richardson said.

He cited the “pinkie” ads aired between 2007 and 2009 by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority.

“We can renegotiate masculinity and behaviours associated with male identity by getting at the core of the issue like the ‘pinkie’ ads did with speeding,” the lecturer suggested.

The pinkie ads were part of a campaign for behavioural change to discourage young drivers from speeding. The campaign grew to be one of the most successful in NSW.

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