AFL and NRL insist they have no plans to push Voice debate during finals as Yes spend big on ads
Finals footy is the best time of year for fans, and both codes have been implored not ruin the special September spectacle by having the Voice “pushed down the throats” of viewers.
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Aussie footy codes have been warned to keep Voice referendum politics out of the finals because fans won’t want the issue “pushed down their throats,” as it can be revealed the Yes campaign has bought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of advertising for the remaining nine NRL fixtures.
The Yes camp has spent about $400,000 to secure electronic billboard advertising to be shown around the grounds at all of the NRL finals games, including the grand final.
NRL sources confirmed the Yes campaign had paid market rates for the advertising package.
The AFL and NRL have backed the referendum, however both codes said they had no plans to promote or feature the Voice themselves during the finals starting this week.
An AFL spokesman also said while there was no Voice-related activity planned for its games, the code would not be asking that the Indigenous Welcome to Country omit any references to the referendum.
In a statement an NRL spokesman said the “yes campaign have purchased commercial advertising inventory from the NRL in the same manner as any advertiser could”.
Avoiding the referendum issue altogether would be a good thing, former Labor Sports Minister Graham Richardson said ahead of the first AFL finals clash between Collingwood and Melbourne.
“I would keep the Voice well out of (the final) were I the one to make the decision. I don’t like the idea of mingling them, that would be a fairly big mistake,” he said.
Mr Richardson said sports fans did not pack out stadiums for “politics”.
“People are going there to watch two teams go hammer and tongs at each other,” he said.
Victorian Liberal premier and former Hawthorn Football Club President Jeff Kennett agreed the codes should not cross promote the Voice during games.
“I think there is a growing resentment by the public against those who are trying to tell individuals how they should vote,” he said.
“I hope (the AFL) allow the hundreds of thousands of patrons who attend the game to watch and to enjoy the experience, they are not going to the football to have social agendas pushed down their throats.”
Mr Kennett said sporting bodies were not there to “enter into public debate,” but he acknowledged many of the corporations who had donated to the yes campaign ran “very advanced programs” for Indigenous employees.
“I think that is highly commendable,” he said.
Global marketing expert Toby Ralph said the risk in the NRL and AFL promoting the Voice during finals games was that it would make the public feel like they were being “sold to” by corporates, rather than having a genuine discussion about a serious issue.
“There’s a sense that the top end of town is selling it to them, so when you have the top end of town being sporting codes endorsing it, it probably reinforces the problem of that issue that it’s a sales pitch,” he said.
The NRL has taken particular interest in the Yes campaign given its close relationship with the Indigenous community.
Yes campaigner and Uluru statement from the heart architect Prof Megan Davis is also a member of the ARL Commission.
In addition to support from the codes, the Voice referendum has the backing of high profile sports stars like Eddie Betts, Johnathan Thurston and Cathy Freeman.
Former AFL footballer Michael Long is currently walking from Melbourne to Canberra on a “long walk the talk” for “recognition and a Voice” to increase community awareness of the proposal.
As the referendum, due to be held on October 14, has neared, Yes23 has sharpened its focus on grassroots campaigning with more than 100,000 doors knocked by about 30,000 local volunteers.
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Originally published as AFL and NRL insist they have no plans to push Voice debate during finals as Yes spend big on ads
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