Society & Culture Gambling ads everywhere

[ManWithNoName]

Billboards. Sides of public transport. Radio. TV. Integrated into TV programs to try and make the gambling guy part of the commentary team. Mentioned during live sport. Etc. Etc.

Who else is sick of it?

 

[hawkaz1]

Yep, it's progressed to farcical proportions. Odds on whether Australia will score over or under 3 runs in the first over after lunch.. are you ****ing serious?

 

[Dont be a lemon]

In March 2008, with James Packer’s Crown Limited bankrolling it, Betfair won a unanimous High Court decision which deemed it unconstitutional to prohibit bookmakers from advertising in one state and operating in another. Suddenly there were no state boundaries, the shackles were off and the land grab was on. “It was the most important thing to happen in 150 years of bookmaking in Australia,” says Betstar’s Alan Eskander. “It kick-started the life-cycle of our industry.”

The global financial crisis had also struck. Banks, fast-food chains and insurance companies scaled back their marketing considerably. The bookmakers, a curiously recession-proof lot, embarked on a blizzard of advertising, as well as thinking laterally in terms of sponsorship.

...

Everything was happening at once. Victoria introduced legislation requiring bookmakers offering markets on local events to obtain the approval of the relevant sports body. It gave organisations such Cricket Australia the power of veto over, say, bets on the number of cricketers wearing sunglasses or sporting hairpieces. The authorities would be privy to financial information, including betting sheets. It also afforded them a right to a cut from the turnover on their events, thought to be around 5%.

But it was quid pro quo. The trade-off guaranteed greater brand awareness, via official websites, team jumpers, grass signage, advertising hoardings and scoreboards. Most importantly, bookies could plug their wares during television and radio broadcasts, subject to the approval of the sport’s governing body. Organisations such as the AFL decided that they needed the bookmakers inside the tent, pissing out.

More: http://www.themonthly.com.au/rise-sports-betting-industry-caught-game-jonathan-horn-4156

Yes it is annoying and broadcasters plugging sponsor's odds is bullshit.

And I facepalm like nobody's business when BigFooty posters post odds on matches like they mean a thing.

 

[Lensen]

hullo. i'd like to tull you about bet three six five

 

[Donners]

It's quite insidious the way it has been incorporated into coverage.

 

[Cleavy]

Jaimee Rogers good.
Everything else bad.

 

[Dan]

I don't mind the occasional punt, but the ads are excessive at the moment.

 

[Ed_Gein]

 

[GreatBradScott]

Get rid of.

 

[Upgrayedd]

They have unlimited amount of money to advertise due to stupid people betting

 

[JuddsABlue]

Its pretty cringe worthy when commentators 'cross' to somebody from a betting agency for the 'latest info'

Otherwise it doesn't bother me, no different from any other rubbish ad

 

[KENT2008]

I absolutely love the punt and do it on a regular basis but even I have to say that the crosses etc to these bookies advertising the prices is sickening, nobody wants this stuff shoved down their throats. Everyone has the internet if they want to check the odds they can simple have a look via that, stop ruining sports by constantly telling us the odds, the majority of don't care.This is part of the reason why punting has such a negative stigma

 

[Simple Jack]

I must be the only one who doesn't really mind it. Sure it's annoying but as far as I'm concerned it's no worse than 9 plugging '2 fat police' or whatever their new 'hit' show at the time is.

I find it interesting to see what the bookies think of the current state of the game from time to time as well.

 

[Caesar]

Meanwhile they are banning logos on cigarette packaging.

 

[raven echo]

Shits me to tears.

 

[GOAUS!]

Shits me to tears.

The Chaser have a good series of ads on him.

 

[raven echo]

The Chaser have a good series of ads on him.

Haha good stuff

 

[SugarShane]

I liked the complaints about Bet365's logos at the Adelaide Test not having a "Gamble Responsibly" warning on them. Because that makes all the difference.

 

[Selective Retention]

I saw them promoting over/under on boundaries for Clarke's and Cowan's innings today.

Cowan hit a 4 all run at one stage and I wondered if that would count towards the total.

I bet the bookies that offer markets like this are the first to scream about spot fixing, when shit like this shouldn't even be offered in the first place.

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

Samuel L. Jackson advertising for Bet365.com

Not makin' enough dosh from movies, Sam?

Has gone down in my estimation

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I have no problem with competition – that’s what the shift has been. The market is now open so there’s a lot of bookies competing, that’s why there’s such as increase in advertising.

I read somewhere not long ago that total gambling $ in Australia actually isn’t rising that much year on year – it just appears that way because it’s always in your face now due to advertising. Punters just have more choice. The important thing is how much money in total is being wagered, and that’s what the government should keeps its eye on. Whether that money is wagered with 1 bookmaker or 100 doesn’t really matter - in fact competition is a good thing in gambling just like it is in any other industry – customers can get themselves a better deal.

Where it clearly and completely crosses the line is where it’s completely incorporated into sporting fixtures to the point where it doesn’t even really appear as “advertising” as such – the ground announcers at stadiums and on TV coverages where they actually throw to a gambling “segment”. This I think sends the message (especially to young impressionables) that gambling is a natural part of any sporting event – which it’s not. Sport does and should exist without gambling. As a first step I think they should knock that shit on the head and allow it only within clear, traditional advertising breaks. If issues then still start to arise the government should look at further restrictions.

In fact any sporting body with any teeth should demand this stuff isn’t part of coverage when selling their rights. The major sports have the commercial ability to do this and they make up a large amount of the sport on TV anyway.

 

[Slax]

I see no difference in the way sporting bodies, especially the major sports, in selling out to betting agencies than the tabacco industry. Problem gambling destroys as many lives as smoking does and it generally does it in a much uglier manner.

You can only spend a finite about of money in a day on smoking or drinking, you can gamble away all the money you want in a day without noticing. Problem gambling is the biggest problem in society, yet we have governments who do not want to do anything about it due to the revenue that it brings in.

I haven't seen any stats to confirm or deny this, but a discuss with a Victoria Police Senior Sargent, he believes that problem gambling is now causing more crime than drug addiction.

 

[Commissioner Gordon]

I must be the only one who doesn't really mind it. Sure it's annoying but as far as I'm concerned it's no worse than 9 plugging '2 fat police' or whatever their new 'hit' show at the time is.

I find it interesting to see what the bookies think of the current state of the game from time to time as well.

lol'd

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

I see no difference in the way sporting bodies, especially the major sports, in selling out to betting agencies than the tabacco industry. Problem gambling destroys as many lives as smoking does and it generally does it in a much uglier manner.

You can only spend a finite about of money in a day on smoking or drinking, you can gamble away all the money you want in a day without noticing. Problem gambling is the biggest problem in society, yet we have governments who do not want to do anything about it due to the revenue that it brings in.

I haven't seen any stats to confirm or deny this, but a discuss with a Victoria Police Senior Sargent, he believes that problem gambling is now causing more crime than drug addiction.

I'm not certain Slax, however it does lead the way when it comes to fraud.

This from Gambling-motivated fraud in Australia : who, why and how

A new study, based on an extensive review of online reports of 528 legal judgements of 12,662 criminal offences heard in Australian courts, indicates that in the past decade more than a quarter of a billion dollars may have been lost to fraud related to gambling, most of which is never recovered (Warfield 2008). Around 12 percent involved amounts in excess of $1 million; another two percent, amounts over $5 million. Generally, gambling-motivated frauds were practised for relatively short durations (more than 62% lasting for less than one year), but 24 percent lasted for at least three years (10% lasting for more than five years). Frauds included defrauding of the government, falsification of accounts, forgery, fraudulent misappropriation, stealing as a servant, and use of false documentation.
Of offenders prosecuted for gambling-motivated fraud, more than 58 percent were male, and most (65%) were between 31 and 50 years of age. The most likely victims were employers (67%), but the largest amounts were stolen from state governments (an average of nearly $3.8 million per state government) and from clients of financial advisers, accountants and solicitors (an average of $1.45 million). The misappropriated money was used to fund a poker-machine addiction in more than half (56%) of the cases (average amount stolen, nearly $65,000), followed by casinos (23%; average, $71,000), horseracing (8%; average, almost $71,500), and TAB gambling (6%; average, just over $5,600).

 

[Slax]

The problem with gambling is it can be like drinking, have a little bit in just one area and it can then lead to a whole lot more.

I know a bloke doing 8 years for drug trafficing to feed his gambling addiction and he was just one of the syndicate that went down.