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Western Bulldogs premiership captain Easton Wood made headlines this week when he tweeted his thoughts on the touchy subject of gambling and the AFL.
According to Wood, the players were warned about the dangers of getting involved with gambling.
The high flying backman then called into question the relationship between the AFL and gambling agencies who saturate the league’s advertising.
A quick Google search shows how deep gambling has infiltrated into everyday life for Australians. This site explains that over 80 per cent of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind.
The website also states between 80,000 and 160,000 of Australian adults are suffering from significant issues due to gambling, which works out to be approximately one per cent of the population.
If gambling is such a major concern for the AFL in regards to their wellbeing, why aren’t they worried about their supporters?
The easy answer is to say there’s way too much sponsorship money coming in from gambling agencies for the AFL to turn them away. Another response might be that the connection between gambling and sport is too deep and it’d be too hard or costly for a radical change now.
At the end of the day, the AFL is a business. No matter how they spin it, money will always win out.
Where things get uncomfortable is when the younger generation is brought into the conversation. No matter how careful parents are to teach their children about the risks associated with betting on sport, their eyes are bombarded with the latest odds as soon as they turn the game on.
No matter if it’s at the game, on TV or in the newspaper – kids are learning that you can’t have sport without a bet.
What’s the alternative? How do we find out who’s going to win on the weekend?
One very simple option would be a rating system out of 100. The more of a certainty a team is to win, the higher their rating would be. For example, it’s Round 10 and the top team hasn’t lost a game, they come up against a struggling cellar-dweller, the game might be rated 90-10 or even 95-5.
The same day, a game between two teams that are difficult to split might be rated 55-45.
This might not be the most scientific system for those brought up in the Champion Data era of AFL analysis and it may not generate any money for the league, but if it means we’re doing our bit to change the culture around sports betting, surely its worth a punt.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.