Sports franchises in Australia are doubling down on their commitment to making sports (betting) safer. Three distinct organizations have decided to extend their partnership with the New South Wales Government’s Reclaim the Game campaign for a period of another two years with the idea of helping consumers and sports fans steer clear of destructive gambling patterns and match-fixing.
Sports Franchises Join “Reclaim the Game”
The participants include A-League soccer clubs Western Sydney Wanderers and Macarthur FC as well as Cricket NSW. The teams have committed to not promoting gambling products in a bid to minimize the exposure of underage sports fans to gambling advertisements, which normalizes the practice. In other words, Cricket NSW and the teams will not allow gambling advertisements to appear on their home stadiums or social media channels or otherwise be associated with their brands and names.
The ban will apply to both the men’s and women’s teams and the bans will apply to games played in home stadiums. Gambling advertisements may still be displayed by opposing teams when playing as guests, however. Hospitality and Racing CEO Anthony Keon welcomed this renewed partnership:
The extended partnerships are a strong show of faith in Reclaim the Game as sporting franchises realize the importance of rejecting sports betting advertising and promoting gambling awareness among their supporters.
Hospitality and Racing CEO Anthony Keon
Keon was pleased that there are 14 teams that have already joined the initiative and who have opted out of sports betting partnerships in order to raise awareness for problem gambling and help educate consumers and sports fans on the dangers of this activity.
Keon is confident that “Reclaim the Game” is a fantastic way for young men, who are most at risk of developing a problem gambling behavior, to educate themselves on the risk.
Sports Fans Do Experience Problem Gambling-Like Symptoms
According to Keon, who cited data, 41% of regular sports bettors are experiencing at least one symptom of problem gambling behavior. One in 20 adults in New South Wales is already betting, and children and young people are seeing too much gambling going on, he added.
According to the research he cited, 50% of those aged 12-17 saw gambling advertisements on television weekly. Keon is confident that through “Reclaim the Game,” Australians can be protected from harmful overexposure to gambling advertisements and the normalization of gambling as part of the sports betting experience. The addition of the soccer clubs and Cricket NSW is a big step forward in making sure that the campaign hits the mark.