A new study published recently by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has indicated that the level of sports betting-related advertising in the country is at an all-time high, amid calls from multiple states to strengthen advertising regulations.
The study, which included responses from 1,765 participants, concluded that more than three-quarters (78 percent) of Australians are seeing such ads at least once a week—41 percent indicated seeing at least four such ads per week.
As a result, both the number of wagers being placed and the amount being spent on advertising by operators have increased dramatically in recent years.
Sportsbet and Tabcorp, the two largest bookmakers in the country, have both reported sharp increases in advertising spend. According to Sportsbet’s parent company Flutter, the company shelled out AU$246 million on marketing in 2022 alone, which represents a year-over-year increase of 12 percent.
As a result, Sportsbet’s database of monthly average players rose to 1.3 million; its profits for 2022 totaled AU$664 million.
For its part, Tabcorp spent AU$106 million on advertising last year, including AU$65.4 million in the last six months. The company reported AU$51 million in profit for that period.
All told, the data estimated that Australian gamblers are losing upwards of AU$20 billion per year on gambling. Tim Costello, a spokesman for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, told the New Daily that this is the highest rate of per capita betting losses in the world.
Costello noted that Australia’s online gaming ads are “20 percent higher than any other nation,” and added that the reason for the increased level of marketing and promotions are due to the fact that they are “dramatically” effective.
According to data from Sportsbet, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) from the Australian sports betting industry has doubled from 2017 to 2022, to over AU$8 billion per year.
That said, it does appear that the appetite for sports betting ads is starting to wane, as 64 percent of respondents in the AIFS survey indicated that they are in favor of a federal advertising ban.
Dr. Sharman Stone, director of the AIFS, told the New Daily that “this reflects a high-level of awareness in Australian society that gambling is a significant cause of harm, which must be addressed.”
