As Crikey previously addressed via our Punted series, gambling advertising in sport is almost inescapable. Last week, we published a list of just how many people in AFL media were publicly involved in the betting industry, prompting some backlash and strong views from other sports media personalities.
Crikey received this message in our tip-off inbox: “I’m shattered that none of our awesome AFL talent didn’t make the list. We could have done with the free publicity. Love, Team Neds”. We also got a shoutout from former Sportsbet ad star Damian Barrett on his podcast The Sounding Board (co-hosted by SEN CEO Craig Hutchison, whose company broadcasts a significant amount of gambling advertising). Barrett implored us to worry about pokies instead.
Elsewhere, other sports media personalities noted the difficulty of trying to participate in the industry without taking gambling money.
Comedian Broden Kelly, who hosts The Footy with Broden Kelly podcast (alongside fellow Aunty Donna member Thomas Zahariou and Age sports reporter Marnie Vinall) wrote on X that he thought “gambling companies target vulnerable creators and their ad space”, adding that it was “hard to sustain unless you’re at the ABC or take gambling money”.
Kelly said gambling companies had approached him multiple times both in his capacity as a sports podcaster and as part of comedy group Aunty Donna. He said the companies are among the few that consistently advertise on podcasts made by creatives.
“There’s been points where gambling has come to us … the truth of it is, there have been points where that conversation has been really, really hard, because if you want to do anything in Australia, it’s becoming increasingly harder and harder to do that without the support of ad revenue,” Kelly told Crikey.
“And one of the only major ad revenue sources is wagering in Australia, which is the unfortunate truth of it.”
Kelly’s podcast is produced by Clubby Sports, led by former footballer Dylan Buckley. Clubby Sports also produces a number of podcasts that take gambling sponsorship, including the Neds-sponsored Kick It Forward. Buckley’s associated production studio Producey lists Betfair and Crown as advertising clients on its website. Buckley declined to be interviewed for this article.
Kelly says he doesn’t “begrudge” those who feel forced to take gambling advertising — especially those who aren’t being represented on the two major television networks for AFL (free-to-air rights holder Seven and pay TV broadcaster Foxtel).
“My frustration is with people’s ability to be able to [advertise] so freewheeling-ly,” he said.
On the issue of political reform, Kelly said he felt the general public was at odds with how gambling advertising was talked about in the media, and that he was disappointed with the response from the federal government.
Kelly pointed to the report chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, which recommended that federal, state and territory governments come together to “implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling, to be introduced in four phases, over three years, commencing immediately”. However, it has been reported that the government may not go that far. Kelly said he wrote to his local member Peter Khalil, the Labor MP for Wills, in inner-north Melbourne, but did not receive a response.
“It’s the one thing that I really push for, and will probably vote accordingly,” Kelly said.
“I’ve never seen a bigger gap between what an audience thinks and what is espoused by the major networks on radio and TV. I feel like 70% of people support a reform in gambling, but if you were to listen to 3AW, or SEN, or Triple M or Fox Footy or Seven, you will never hear anything said about it in any way that is not complimentary. [Reform] truly is what the public wants.
“It’s fucked. I feel like most people know that.”
Khalil said that Kelly’s email was unfortunately misfiled, and that he shared Kelly’s “deep concerns about the potential harms gambling can bring to our community”.
“It feels almost a shame that what used to be a tradition in my household, growing up and turning on Channel 7 on Friday nights to watch footy, is now being deluged with gambling advertisements,” Khalil told Crikey.
“This new ‘status quo’ can’t continue.”
Khalil said the government was considering all 31 recommendations from the final report of the online gambling reform inquiry.
Those covering sports other than Australian football tell a similar tale to Kelly. Ian Higgins is one half of popular cricket podcast The Grade Cricketer, and told Crikey that it simply felt “yuck” to take gambling money and that it was “so far removed from the essence of sport”.
Like Kelly, Higgins said he had to have difficult conversations when it came to not taking gambling money.
“We were told at one point that if we didn’t take a gambling sponsor, we might not have a show. It was just that kind of ultimatum.”
Like Kelly, Higgins doesn’t begrudge other creators for taking gambling money.
“[Our] sales team just had to work a bit harder, and they got a different company, and we had a show that wasn’t a gambling company’s,” he said.
“It’s amazing, if you stay the course, you can be rewarded eventually, and maybe not have to do something that you’re not comfortable with.
“You’re always told it’s a soft advertising market. I don’t think there’s ever been a good market. But you know, sometimes people pay us, so there must be some money out there.”
However, both Higgins and Kelly noted that wagering companies are “proactive” in approaching young content creators, which makes refusing the money for a medium described by Higgins as a “labour of love” difficult.
“I don’t know whether the majority of the people just think that punting on sport is a normal part of sport,” Higgins said.
“I think that’s just because you’re being told that it’s normal.”
