AFL and NRL heavyweights have insisted their codes go beyond regulations to protect the audience during a parliamentary grilling about their reliance on gambling advertising.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and his AFL counterpart Gillon McLachlan gave evidence to an online gambling inquiry on Tuesday, where Mr McLaughlin said game development and affordability mean sports betting advertising remains an important revenue stream.
The AFL boss saw no problem with the level of gambling advertising but said inducement offers to bet were a “problem”, although he insisted the funds were needed to further his code.
“Fans like the fact child (ticket) prices are $5, adults prices are $27 … we’ve invested $55 million in game development,” Mr McLachlan said.
“We have to make decisions on partnerships to protect the integrity of the game … you try and manage all those competing interests, it’s about balance and ongoing review.”
Labor MP Peta Murphy questioned how the AFL could hold itself up as a community leader with social licence.
She pointed to a survey done by the AFL’s fan association that found three in four fans want gambling ads banned from broadcasts, with their frequency surpassing umpiring and rule changes as the No.1 concern.
“I find that extraordinary because no one likes the umpiring and rule changes, ever,” Ms Murphy said.
“There must be a point where … notwithstanding how much money the AFL can get to operate from that product, the social licence has to kick in and there has to be a consideration of that sponsorship.”
Mr Abdo said the NRL, like the AFL, was doing more than legally required to limit gambling advertising, including banning logos from national team jerseys, banning ads from grounds and age-verifying their website audience.
He also denied NRL fans had a problem with the prolific nature of betting ads, saying 0.1 per cent of their feedback in the last five years had been complaints regarding wagering.
“We’re not seeing qualitative evidence there’s this overwhelming swarm of pressure,” Mr Abdo said.
Earlier, Tabcorp boss Adam Rytenskild said it was clear tougher regulation was needed to protect the community, suggesting the amount of gambling advertising had “gone too far”.
“Australian families and children should be able to watch live sport and television without being bombarded by gambling advertisements,” he said.
“A generation of children now talk about the odds of their team winning this weekend and see betting as a norm, rather than a choice – we don’t want that for the next generation.”
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
