The Australian Institute has released research from a recent poll revealing that 70% of Australians feel that gambling companies should be prohibited from advertising on TV.
The online survey polled 1,003 people asked if certain products including tobacco, junk food, alcohol, and gambling products and services should be banned from TV. The results showed that the majority of those polled agreed that all of these products should not appear in TV commercials.
The Institute broke down the results by age and gender revealing that 70% of males agreed with a ban on gambling TV ads while 72% of females agreed. Meanwhile, only 11% of the total figure disagreed with the ban with the remainder undecided.
69% of people aged 18-29 agreed with the ban while 64% of those aged 30-39 agreed. This rose to 70% for 40-49 year olds and 69% for those aged 50-59. 78% of those in the 60+ age bracket agreed with the ban.
The gambling industry spent AU$287.2 million (€198.8 million) on advertising in Australia during 2021.
Gambling companies face tough restrictions on what they can advertise on TV and social media in Australia, but some politicians feel that not enough is being done. Victorian MP Zoe Daniel is one of those who is pushing for more restrictions the promotion of sports betting and gambling in general.
“I am deeply concerned about the normalisation of sports gambling and the proximity of gambling advertising to broadcast sport, particularly AFL and ARL football codes.
“When children are having conversations about sports betting “multis”, wanting to set up sports betting apps on their phones and even betting on the federal election, we have an issue.”
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.