Australia MPs call for daytime egaming ad ban
Select committee report covers egaming shirt sponsorships and live odds on sports broadcasts.
A report from the Australian parliament’s joint select committee on gambling reform has called for a blanket ban on advertising from egaming companies during children’s television viewing hours.
The proposed ban would cover both commentators’ announcements of live odds and the presence of the logos of egaming companies on the kit of sports teams.
However the proposed restrictions will only be applied to sports broadcasts within the relevant timeframe, rather than general commercial airtime.
Cormac Barry, CEO of Sportsbet, told eGaming Review: “In the event that the restrictions are limited to the live broadcast of the sports I think it is a balanced and positive outcome for society.
“We currently do not promote live odds in programs so the impact of these proposals on our marketing would be limited,” Barry added.
In the section of the 428-page report devoted to the impact of egaming advertising, the committee assesses comments from Canada-based professor John McMullan, who stated that research has found: “Exposure to gambling ads is high and likely to trigger gambling urges and promote positive attitudes towards gambling perceptions and behaviours.”
It adds that “The committee heard how the increasing promotion of live odds exposes vulnerable groups, such as those with a gambling problem or children, to gambling products.”
A ban on live odds during sports broadcasts had initially been proposed in May, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) ending its partnership with Betfair (and with it ending its broadcasting of live odds within the ground) three months later.
Despite the uncertainty around live-odds advertising in the Commonwealth country, BSkyB-owned odds comparison site Oddschecker launched its Oddsscanner product in Australia last month.
Oddschecker general manager Derren Maggs has called for “greater clarity” from Australian authorities with regard to advertising restrictions, saying: “In launching our Australian comparison site, OddsScanner, it has been difficult to adopt a policy in accepting bookmaker promotions relating to inducements. Advertising laws differ from state to state and in addition the degree to which they are enforced across territories has differed greatly.”
Andrew Wilkie MP, who chaired the committee, also recommended that the government further investigate the method of payment controls which involves maintaining a ‘blacklist’ of merchant numbers of overseas gambling providers and supplying them to financial institutions,” similar to recent proposals in Italy and Belgium.
However such a clampdown, initially put forward by anti-gambling Senator Nick Xenophon was dismissed by banks as “unworkable” last month.
Wilkie also ruled that, considering the current use of offshore sites by Australian gamblers, “A better, safer alternative would be to allow a well regulated domestic market to operate and provide services to Australians.”