Anti-gambling advocates have reacted furiously to the NRL chairman Peter V’landys’s open pursuit of gambling revenue, criticising his description of sport as “wagering content” as scandalous and counterproductive.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, V’landys said opening next season in Las Vegas would help develop new broadcast and gambling markets in the US. He said some Americans were looking for wagering content in different timezones and “rugby league is the perfect one for that”.
“There are two strands in my eyes we can get extra revenue from: the broadcast subscription [first], but if we can put that with a wagering operator, you can get two times the revenue,” V’landys told Nine newspapers. “If you’re betting on the product, you’ll subscribe to the broadcast.”
Charles Livingston, an associate professor of public health at Monash University who focuses on gambling, said the US push undermined efforts by several clubs and players to reduce the volume of gambling advertisements at stadiums.
“He’s said the quiet part out loud,” Livingston said. “On one level, it’s entirely obvious this is not a game anymore, or a pursuit in its own right, it’s become fodder for gambling companies and he wants to maximise the revenue he gets for it.”
Several rugby league clubs have sought to distance themselves from the gambling industry and agreed to no longer accept money from wagering companies, as part of the NSW government’s Reclaim the Game initiative. Some have banned gambling ads at grounds and removed sponsorship from all club apparel.
“I mean, this guy is just off the charts,” Livingston said. “He’s occupying a different system to the rest of us when it comes to gambling. Ask any parent with young children who watch football and they’ll tell you the thing they can’t stand is the gambling ads as they can see what they’re doing to them.”
V’landys rejected suggestions he’d tied the future of the NRL to gambling revenue and said wagering was “one part of a massive revenue base”, which has grown from $15m a year to $50m. He said that revenue was directed back to “clubs, players, and participation”.
“Is that satire? Surely that’s satire,” said Tim Costello, the chief advocate of the alliance for gambling reform, after reading the V’landys interview.
“It is appalling that, with gambling doing so much harm in our community, that the head of the NRL seems obsessed with finding new ways to further entrench the league with the gambling industry.
“It is a tragedy to me that it is actually changing the way people follow sport, especially young people. They are now following the game not to support their team buy to see if their multi comes off.”
Some market analysts and investors believe the NRL’s US expansion plan, which is still subject to negotiations, could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcast fees, sponsorship and gambling revenue. The sports gambling market in the US has only recently been legalised and has gown quickly.
“Like him or loathe him, V’Landys is all about the dollar,” said Colin Smith, of advisory firm Global Media and Sports.
The overseas expansion is supported by many of Australia’s biggest sports gambling companies, although they would not benefit directly. International bets cannot be placed with Australian bookmakers and different time zones may reduce the volume of bets.
Last month, the NRL chief executive, Andrew Abdo, downplayed community concern about the volume of gambling advertisements associated with the game.
“I am cognisant of the issue, but I’m also cognisant of the fact that the overarching majority of fans do not see this as a major issue,” Abdo told a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling harm.
