Xenophon blasts Rabbitohs' casino sponsorship deal

Sheek, I think there is a fundamental difference between drinking/gambling and smoking. It is entirely possible to regularly drink and not "drink yourself to intoxication, get in a car, drift onto the wrong side of the road & kill the occupants of an on-coming car." There are limits, depending on one's gender and body type as well as other factors, and there are 'rules' such as not drinking on an empty stomach; but if you're smart and don't go over the limit, you can drink on a regular basis without any problems. It is also possible to gamble on a regular basis without risking your livelihood, house and family. Smoking however is different. Not only is it the only legal product which if taken correctly could very well lead to your death, but as the ads say, every cigarette is doing you damage. There is no healthy way to smoke. This does not mean that I believe that cigarettes should be outlawed. As someone who believes that every illicit drug, no matter how harmful, should be legalised or decriminalised, I have no desire to see tobacco get banned. But nor do I think tobacco companies should be allowed to adsvertise. Just with with illicit drugs, should they ever get legalised, I have no problem with tobacco companies being allowed to operate but not being allowed to advertise their products As such I have no problem with there being prejudice against the robacco companies., I do agree with you however that there is a double standard, However I don't think it's against tobacco. I think it's against prostitution where brothels can't do any advertising at all, even for staff. Regarding Souths, I personally don't like it. However I understand it. I wish that football clubs didn't need revenue from gambling/gambling advertising, but they do. Hopefully new revenue streams will be discovered/opened up, and clubs won't need to depend on pokie machines, but that's the reality for now.

nick and all governments should worry about drought proofing australia not about gambling sponsoring rl clubs.

The solution is to decriminalise sport/match fixing. That way the betting companies won't waste the community resources having the police investigate who is ripping them off. They will simply be taking a punt like most people who bet on sport.

I find the contiual displaying or mentioning of the odds on Tv ,when watching an NRl match with Rabs,as not only annoying but cringeworthy. I suggest the overwhelming majority of people who watch either dont bet or if they do,have already place their money on the specific betting options.The numbers who get up off their seat and race to the TAb or phone would I suspect be minimal. BTW the betting mob,who are involved with the Sharks,were apparenlty goiven the all clear. Meantime the Govt rakes in their huge slice from smoking,gambling and drinking,so for them its tut tut on the surface,but underneath wringing their hands with glee,as they count the largesse to balance a budget.Hypocrites.

You do at the ground and on Fox. There's no point doing it on a delayed game. You will see it everywhere in AFL once free to air gets AFL live coverage.

I haven't noticed it for AFL broadcasts, but I don't have foxtel.

People seem to think that if a tv commentator spruiks betting odds that it is the sport doing it which is rubbish. It is the television company using the sport.

Maybe so apaway, but who decided that just NRL clubs alone have to uphold the community's moral well being? When Star City sponsors a Sydney Hobart yacht no one says anything at all. No one makes the sailing industry feel guilty. You can bet on that race too. Its ok for the NSW government to make mega millions on lottery and scratchie tickets.

Gambling and Sport. This is a tough one. Personally I don’t think it is such a big deal that star city are now the major sponsor of the Rabbitohs, honestly I don’t think I could name many major sponsors in all sports across Australia, this is despite the fact that in footy season I will Watch 95% of Super rugby games probably missing about 1 a week, 90% of Broncos games a year plus a few other Friday night games and of course Origin. And I will always try and get to see the Lions live if I can. I think I watch a fair amount of sport weekly. So really I think the major sponsor on a shirt has marginal impact. On the other hand what I have noticed over the past few years on NRL and AFL broadcasts, and it is creeping into Rugby too, is the constant need for commentators to spruik odds at any chance. This annoys me know end. Whats more commentators’ offer comments such as “Geez they are paying well at $2.70, so if you are near a TAB put some money down or jump online @www….” This is plain wrong. If a commentator said “you should go grab a XXXX or a Tohey’s” there would be outrage. I don’t see why this applies for the need to shove gambling down our throat?

Maybe more teams could follow the Roosters/Steggles model of having a sponsorship directly related to their mascot? Souths=Rabbit photo Wests=Tiger air Titans=Titan sheds Melbourne= Storm finanical.. oh...hang on a sec

I think in the Souths case, Jerrys, it is seen as something of a hypocrosy to vote to ban poker machines at the club's own venue and then accept sponsorship revenue from the State's biggest poker machine venue.

How funny is this... Has this guy been living under a rock for the last 5 years? Its about time NRL Franchises start to get real name sponsors, geez wait till he finds out the Toyata Cup this year will be playing the "Mother" branded Footballs :)

Ok, so it's alright to have live horse racing and betting on FTA tv each week and it's ok for you to have a punt on Melbourne cup day every year where people stop working for a few minutes and even school children get to watch at school, but it's not alright for a few NRL clubs to be sponsored by these companies? hmmmmmm.

The thing that really irks me is the prejudice displayed against the tobacco industry. Now I'm not a smoker, although I'm known to enjoy the very occasional cigar with a nice shiraz. So I don't have any axe to grind here. Very, very occasional cigar. I'm also a casual punter, usually only when the big horse race carnivals swing around. But the betting agencies don't miss the small amounts I wager. I would also consider myself a social drinker, although during the social months of Dec-Jan, this can get a bit too much. After I complained to my wife recently about our 4th straight social engagement in as many days, she replied caustically, "well, you don't have to drink every time". Sigh, she doesn't understand..... It seems you can spend money you can't afford to lose on gambling, which affects the social network & livelihood of yourself, your family, friends & acquaintances, & that's okay. The various governments are happy to get a cut of your money, even if you can't afford to lose it. It seems also you can drink yourself to intoxication, get in a car, drift onto the wrong side of the road & kill the occupants of an on-coming car. Dead people aren't a burden on the state, so forgive my extreme cynicism for thinking all governments think is also quite alright. But heaven forbid you should acquire lung & throat problems from prolonged smoking, which require you to be put on life support machines, because then the governments have to pay to keep you alive, you ungrateful sod! The double standards in our society astound me. Okay, they shouldn't, but they do. Is this the same Russell Crowe who banned cheer girls from Souths matches because they sent the wrong message? Is this the same Russell Crowe who tried to ban poker machines from Souths Leagues club? But now with massive gambling sponsorship dollars in the offing, it's all okay. I can accept this, but let's stop pretending with all the false moralising. You can be old & sick & in constant pain, & the state doesn't care. But woe betide anyone thinking of euthanasia. I sometimes cynically think the state wants us alive no matter what, so they can continually bleed us financially. Why, there must be some public, tax-funded 'fact finding' mission to an exotic location coming up next month, Or the month after..... Now we have legalised betting on just about anything - more revenue streams for betting agencies & the state. We live in the era of 'immediate gratification'. Society refuses to place any boundaries on its excesses. As any sensible parent knows, a failure to set behaviour boundaries for your child only creates further problems down the track. Gambling & sports have been around together since the year dot. So has drinking & smoking. If it's okay to have legalised gambling & drinking advertising despite their social problems, then it should also be okay to have legailised tobacco advertising despite its social problems. All for one & one for all. Since governments have no intention of culling gambling or drinking from advertising, stop the prejudice & double standards against tobacco, & allow tobacco advertising as well. Unfortunately, I am not paid a retainer by tobacco companies to argue the prejudice by governments against them. End of rant!

what do south australians know about rugby league anyway

Iit's a bit of a non-story though isn't it? Could have been titled 'Politician who bases his whole image on anti-gambling dislikes gambling'

Brett you may be right on the cricket. I saw that too. As for the opportunism of an independant senator it is not opportunism when it appears that no other sport's media seem to go ask for comment.

Jerrys, I was more thinking about the opportunism of an independant senator desperate to stay relevant as the Greens take the balance of power in the Senate from July. But yeah, you also have a point about some elements of the RL media too.. Funnily enough, I think there's even a bit of Sydney-Melbourne in terms of negative-positive reporting in sport. Following the Ashes series around, I noticed the real "lay the boot in" stories seemed to be coming from the Sydney journos (tabloid journos, mainly), whereas the Melbourne guys (generally) reported from a step back. Not quite sure if that correlates to NRL V AFL reporting, and I don't particularly want to turn this into a code war, but it's an observation nonetheless...

True Brett. These stories also say a lot about the attitude and negative thinking of the rugby league media. No matter what it is they always have to find the negative side and make it the story. NRL fans complain about the way that AFL players and clubs get away with so much more than NRL players but the root cause is the league media generally.

Yep, from memory another major footy code had a gambling logo on their apparel but wasn't a major topic. Should be interesting rhetoric over the next few days.