Crackdown on sports betting a must for young

CHILDREN watching sport are being groomed to gamble, with an avalanche of advertising that’s unavoidable, writes Tim Costello.

One half-baked idea from the AFL is to allow ads after 8.30pm.

SPORTS such as footy and cricket have been a healthy, fun part of growing up for generations.

Kids would follow their favourite teams, look up to the players as role models, and memorise their team stats.

Now kids watching sport are being groomed to gamble, with an avalanche of advertising that’s unavoidable.

The federal government has a unique chance to stop the ads and keep our kids safe.

The gambling advertising is already having a profound impact on kids.

Three in four kids can tell you the name of at least one sports gambling brand.

Many can tell you without any prompting, details of the ads and “deals” they promote.

We shouldn’t be surprised that one in five adults hit hard by gambling started before they turned 18.

We should be outraged that teenagers are four times more likely to wind up gambling heavily than adults.

It doesn’t have to be this way. As the evidence mounted about the health affects of tobacco, pressure increased to stop advertising during sports.

Initially, the sporting codes and their allies pushed back, claiming the sky would fall without tobacco advertising revenue.

But we stopped the tobacco ads then, and we can stop the gambling adverts now.

It’s not complicated.

Government just has to close a loophole.

Advertising gambling to kids is already banned — except during sporting broadcasts.

Closing the loophole so that families can watch their favourite sports without being swamped by gambling ads is a simple, first step towards keeping the sport in sport.

Compared to the rest of the government agenda, this is plain sailing.

The ALP, Greens and key crossbench MPs all support closing the gambling ads loophole, knowing that there is strong public support.

The Cabinet will soon take a look at options, and the only question is how much of the gambling advertising will come to a welcome end.

A key hurdle, just like it was for tobacco, is the sporting code bosses. The AFL, Cricket Australia and NRL are deciding to put the next generation of their fans — today’s kids — at risk in order hold onto the gambling money that flows to them through the sale of sports broadcast rights.

They’re trying to water the ban down so that gambling ads can air through to the moment the siren sounds to start the game, and from the moment the game ends.

This means kids will still be exposed to gambling advertising whether families like it or not.

Another half-baked idea from the AFL is to allow ads after 8.30pm.

Try explaining to your kids that they only get to watch the first half of night games before the ad barrage starts.

Surely the AFL commissioners know this is at odds with their efforts to make footy family friendly.

Closing just part of the gambling ad loophole is like playing footy with one boot.

It will look stupid, it won’t work, and the companies and their advertisers will just pour money into other times when kids are watching.

Politicians around the Cabinet table should listen to sports fans and families, and ignore the sporting codes.

They’ll be thanked for it by footy fans and families around the country, grateful they can get into the game, without getting into gambling.

Tim Costello is spokesman for the Alliance for Gambling Reform