The gambling giant Sportsbet has splashed ads for its expanded same-game multi-bets on the AFL’s website, months after pulling them from free-to-air broadcasts due to “strong community sentiment”.
The ads, which reveal Sportsbet now accepts same-game multi-bets on how many possessions a player acquires during a match, encouraged people to “bet now” and surrounded the AFL homepage.
While the ads did not breach any rules, Sportsbet has previously voluntarily withdrawn ads for the same product on different platforms “after listening to stakeholder and community sentiment on gambling advertising”.
“Same-game multis” allow gambling on a combination of outcomes such as possessions and goal scorers, and all must succeed for the bet to be paid out. Analysis has shown that multi-bets have a high fail rate for gamblers.
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The crossbench MP Kate Chaney, who sat on a parliamentary inquiry into gambling harm led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, said the ad showed why the gambling industry’s attempts to self-regulate had failed.
“Expecting gambling companies to take their own hand out of the cookie jar is a joke and the government must know it,” Chaney said.
In early July, weeks before the ad was published, the communications minister, Annika Wells, met the AFL’s chief executive, Andrew Dillon, to discuss the government’s long-awaited plan to restrict gambling advertising.
The former communications minister Michelle Rowland’s proposed changes, made in response to June 2023 parliamentary inquiry, were abandoned shortly before the election. The inquiry recommended a total ban on gambling advertising after a three-year transition period.
The independent Australian Capital Territory senator David Pocock urged the federal government to fast-track its reforms and said the industry could not be trusted to regulate itself.
“Sportsbet response to concern over recent advertising highlights this, after they pulled advertisements from TV only to then splash them over the AFL’s website,” Pocock said.
Prof Samantha Thomas, a Deakin University academic who specialises in gambling and who gave evidence to the inquiry, said the ad was “a clear example of why comprehensive bans are needed”.
“Partial restrictions will continue to leave the door open for the gambling industry to promote their products across multiple platforms,” Thomas said.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform’s chief executive, Martin Thomas, accused Sportsbet of “virtue signalling” by removing its ads from television and then “resorting back to type” by splashing them on the AFL’s website.
Sportsbet and the AFL were contacted for comment.
Unlike television broadcasts, the ad was only visible to people aged 18 or older. Anyone who visits the AFL website can also opt out of seeing gambling odds and wagering content.
This year Guardian Australia reported that leaked documents showed that the AFL received a bigger share of gambling revenue when people submitted same-game multi-bets.
Shortly before the season began, the AFL sought an even bigger share of revenue from these bets, arguing the money was necessary to address an “unprecedented” increase in “integrity risks” posed by the wagering industry.
That proposal was not accepted by some bookmakers and the Victorian gambling regulator is considering whether to make an unprecedented intervention in the dispute, which could set a limit on the league’s revenue from wagering.
Wells has also discussed proposed gambling ad restrictions with the NRL chair, Peter V’landys, and chief executive, Andrew Abdo, Seven West Media’s chief executive, Jeff Howard, and the chief executives of Free TV Australia and Foxtel.
Before those meetings, Wells met Rod Glover, who was Peta Murphy’s husband for more than 20 years before she died from cancer in December 2023, six months after delivering her report into gambling harms.
Sources familiar with the consultation say it has focused on identifying the main objections and testing support for compromises. They say the government intends to act by the end of the year.
• In Australia, Gambling Help Online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare on 0808 8020 133. In the US, call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 800-GAMBLER or text 800GAM.
