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Nah, betting props up the AFL much more than NRL
The investigation reveals four ways proceeds of gambling pour into the coffers of Australia’s most popular football competition. Most are well known. The TV stations that pay for AFL broadcast rights, worth about $400 million a year, are partly funded by the huge advertising spending by betting companies. The pervasive on-ground advertising is worth up to $3 million to the AFL. A sponsorship with Sportsbet rakes in up to $8 million.
One less known but lucrative revenue stream is the cut the AFL gets from every gaming company. In the early 2000s, Andrew Demetriou, who headed the AFL then, called the bookmakers together to demand a cut. McClure says the “integrity agreement” resulted in the AFL receiving 10¢ for every dollar made by corporate bookmakers (Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, Neds and others) on the game. This has turned into a huge windfall. Two senior wagering sources have told The Age it could make the AFL up to $40 million this year. At a time when the pandemic has put the AFL under enormous financial pressure, the tens of millions in proceeds from gambling will be a critical revenue stream. And it is only going to grow.
While that may be good for the AFL’s bottom line, the flipside is the rise in problem gambling that comes with it, and the reputational damage the AFL suffers from being so closely associated with the business. Experts are increasingly raising alarm bells over what most who are impacted know all too well: many who gamble are addicts and gambling irresponsibly has a drastic impact on not just the punter, but family, friends and workplaces.
Somebody should call time on the AFL’s reliance on gambling
Sports betting advertising has become ubiquitous for those watching football, but the AFL needs to wean itself off dependence on this form of revenue.
