Betting agencies should not sponsor Footy Show

Centrebet sponsors the NRL Footy Show

Perhaps is less about what the ads are telling you – - and more about the example within the home set by parents. I'm not a punter so no expert but I believe theirs probably a link as well.

I love a punt and throw a multi or two on various sports across the weekend but have to say I dislike the odds constantly displayed and talked about on telecasts. With internet betting there's plenty of opportunity for punters to know what the odds are and anyone keen for a half time or mid game punt will have access to these so there's no necessity for the 5 minute updates. It's particularly galling when it's Rabs qouting the tote when he's just come out and admitted to a lifelong gambling problem. We seem to have forgotten that kids watch footy. As well as learning about knock ons, handballs, offsides, etc kids are picking up the punt as well. At worst it's insidious brain washing, at best it's desensitising them to gambling. My kids are 3 and 1 - I'm dreading the thought of trying to explain what the odds meanwhile we're watching the footy.

I'm not too concerned around betting info on the footyshow, given the timeslot, however, the constant updating of odds during the cricket during the day, or likewise during a footy telecast when kids might be watching might be worthy of review, HOWEVER, growing up, the nags were often in the way of listening to the footy on the radio from Melbourne, especially should your game of interest be on 3UZ - - and constant updates of correct weight, and the prices for the next race at Flemington or Rosehill or whereever and someone lining up for goal only to have the start of the 3rd race from Eagle Farm,..........and with all that, I was never tempted to become a regular nags punter. Perhaps is less about what the ads are telling you - - and more about the example within the home set by parents.

Firstly let me start by saying that I work in the racing/betting industry, and acknowledge that may make me biased – further I should note that these opinions are my own and not my employers. Joel was correct in that the government did relax a number of restrictions a few years ago which is why we now see a proliferation of betting related advertising. I believe we are only going to see more and more of it in the couple of years to come before hitting a tipping point when the ads become less affective in securing the bookies new customers and then we will start to see less. I fully understand the problems associated with problem gambling, having had a relation who lost his house and a breakdown to his family as a result. On the other side there are a large number of who do indeed bet responsibility and enjoy it very much as a past time. Perhaps a good comparison is alcohol consumption, where a number of people do drink responsibly, but of course there is also a number that don’t. It really comes down to a moral issue. If you are to ban gambling advertising then along the same lines you should also ban other potentially socially destructive products such as any alcohol advertising. The key I believe is Education – which I think is currently lacking even despite the gamblers help ads. A number of people don’t fully understand the realities of betting and the dangerous pitfalls that one can fall into. The question is who takes responsibility for the education? Should those who advertise also be required to include an educational component? At the moment if a company advertises anything related to gambling they have to have the disclaimer to ‘gamble responsibly’ and usually provide a gamblers helpline phone number. But maybe more can be done? Perhaps the ads should also come with more specific warnings on the risks, like how over time the smoking industry had to put more and more disclaimers until nearly most of their advertising avenues have been restricted. For example, that the vast majority of people betting lose money (around 95 to 99% - there is no exact figure available). Perhaps this type of notice should come with the advertising. Would that help curb problem gambling – I don’t know.

Mid game adverts bother me the most, the rest I just tune out.... though I guess that's why they do it. At half time when their is no action giving the odds kind of makes sense but during the game it really seems irrelevant. Never watch the AFL footy show but has anyone seen Thurday night Live, one very long commercial for Sports Bet. If someone was a problem gambler they would have to avoid pretty much all sport in Australia. I know the A League, NRL and AFL are covered in gambling commercials... can't recall for Cricket or Union.

BUT we can have a sponsor that warms the room up, not listening to money going kaching kaching and then relising that someone, who look we may never know which is fine, going 'oooohhh i better chuck few hundred on that game'. Lets think about the general interets of society...not just ourselves.

That fact is though that if people want their sports to be able to command the big broadcast fees then they need to allow the TV stations to recoup that money and then some by advertising. Unfortunately Amnesty International don't have the same budget as the various betting companies. So in many ways if you want the AFL to have money for Auskick and the NRL to lift the salary cap get used to gambling ads because they pump in plenty of dough. It annoys me as much as the next man, but what I find even more annoying is the use of gambling agnecies to get free marketing by the various stries they put out to the media about rubbish stories about the good luck some punter has had or a big wedge a punter has put on Team B. I can't believe the amount of coverage I'm seeing about betting on the Federal Election!!!

Nice article! It is sad that the world of business and corporate sponsorship has to overule the moral humane decency in society. AFL might be at times robotic and a business but all interested parties, vested or invested, are humans who have a family they need to support outside of the footy oval. Before the Game does terrific work with the Make A Wish Foundation. it is hard enough let alone getting Sam Newman to give money out to kids when reading through his mailbag! There are many charities and sporting charity like groups who would be honored to support a footy show. Those Centrebet odds on NRL and AFL footy shows mean 'nothing' before a match, it is only in the fourth quater when the odds dramatically change, and then change the lives of many.

I dont like Rabs always saying what the odds are every 5 mins argh!

I quite like the odds to be shown. I'd say some 99.9% of people who have a bet on sport wouldn't be 'Problem gamblers'. Why should we all suffer for the few who don't understand / care about the risks. I certainly wouldn't bet money i didn't have, or at the expense of essential items for my family. All my friends have a punt, not one of them has gone without anything due to it. Common sense should prevail. People who lose money are looking for an easy way out, we should stop feeling sorry for them, they know the risks. Especially those people who make thier kids go without because they gambled away the money, they should definately recieve no sympathy. Betting is just a bit of fun.

Fairly sure it's Centrebet who sponsor the Footy Show. Nice article though.

A good article though I don't know why you singled out The Footy Show. It's hard to think of a football tv or radio or newspaper show which doesn't highlight the betting aspects of their sport. Every radio call I hear of AFL has the odds given at different stages of the match, the show on One HD on Thursday nights specifically mentions the odds after each match, even news.com.au had the odds of the Oscars in their feature leading up to the event. In The Advertiser a few Saturdays ago in the "news" section (one must put "news" in quotation marks when discussing The Advertiser) they had a story on the problems of online gambling. Very good article actually. Turn over to the Sports section, and they actually have a full page dedicated to sports betting. What the odds are of the major events that weekend, what the big tips are, exotics, etc. They even have their "mug punters" section which may appear to glorify the weekend punt, each "journalist" (again, note the quotation marks) has $50 to bet for charity. A good cause, but you wonder about the effects it has on the psyche of sports betting. I know people will argue that it's personal responsibility, and I can't disagree with them, but betting, online betting especially is so easy, so quick, so secretive and so easy to abuse, that it's actually quite scary how quickly things can spiral out of control.

I'm not a gambler, the gee gees in the Spring Carnival about does me. I have no problem with sports betting sponsorship itself, my issue is more around any pressure that industry might bring into the game itself, with the control of information, selection changes,etc. My take on it: http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/08/08/betting-on-sport-should-the-tail-wag-the-dog/ At the footy now, the big screen will flash the odds at the start of the game, qtr time, half time,etc. I find it interesting, certainly doesnt encourage me to make a bet, given they get it wrong so often and the odds jump around during the game at the whim of crazed gamblers. As for the Footy Show, its more of the same.

I agree. Oh wait, I wrote much the same thing last year: http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/09/15/sports-betting-sponsorship-the-2-edged-sword/ So you agree!!! :)

Excellent article. I believe the government relaxed restrictions on gambling advertising which has lead to this epidemic of misery pushers across the media. It's shameful.