ABC raises concerns about sports betting and youngsters

Australians are not gambling as much as they used to, a study by HILDA indicated in 2021, with the numbers of gamblers dropping by around 300,000, ABC News reported, taking stock of the gambling industry in the country.

However, there has been a notable increase in the total betting handle going down on dog and horse racing, and all other forms of sports, much of which the publication claims can be attributed to the arrival of international brands such as Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and PointsBet. According to ABC News, gambling advertisement is also on the up, with Nielsen data showing that companies in the country spent a collective $287.2m on pushing gambling messages to potential sports bettors.

This report comes at a time when some of the major players in the country, including Entain, have vowed to stop their shirt sponsorships whereby brands such as Neds and Ladbrokes sponsor teams and have their logos displayed on player jerseys and training kits, in-stadia signage, and social media. But is this enough, ABC wonders, as gambling advertisement for sports in particular has increased by 253% between 2016 and 2021 in Victoria.

According to ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the ad spend seems to be doing the trick as the number of bettors in Australia between 2019 and 2022 increased to 5%. ABC is also concerned that many youngsters are getting in on the action.

Young people are increasingly interested in sports betting, the media cautions, and 18-to-24-year-old are rapidly joining in to explore gambling. Their participation has increased significantly. Worryingly, though, many young people made their first sports bet even before they were 18, which is both illegal and sets them on a course for later issues with gambling.

Charles Livingstone spoke to the publication and cautioned that in the period between 2018 and 2019, Australians were spending around $1bn on sports gambling, but this amount has increased to what could be $1.6bn today, not least because of the pandemic.

The publication reached out to Deakin University public health professor Samantha Thomas who said that young people in Australia already have something called a "very high recall" of gambling brands, meaning that they are aware of their existence and are therefore far more likely to engage with them. Not least, there are celebrities who have been appearing on gambling ads and who appeal to younger generations.

All of this raises serious ethical questions and begs the question whether Australia can do better in regulating gambling advertisement and the way it reaches consumers.

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