I confess my surprise.
The three greatest traditions of Australian sport are coin-tosses before the match, handshakes after it, and governments promising to do something about the scourge of problem gambling, before doing precisely nothing.
But this time? Something appears to have happened. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, from March next year online wagering companies will be obliged to do away with the anodyne warning at the end of every gambling ad to “gamble responsibly” and replace it with one of seven possible new warnings, on rotation over time. An initiative by the federal Department of Social Services, it is a small beginning, but something at least.
Now, after giving you the odds or “point spread” – whatever that is – on the likes Manly beating Parra, the person doing the ad will have to finish with stuff like this:
“Chances are you’re about to lose.”
“Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?”
Gambling logos seem to be pasted over every moving part of sport, including the Sea Eagles jersey.Credit:Getty
“What’s gambling really costing you?”
“What are you prepared to lose today? Set a deposit limit.”
Bravo. Whatever else, they are closer to the mark of a genuine warning, rather than a glib repetition of a phrase that has lost all meaning.
Who, seriously, thinks that after one of the sports betting advertisements, one of the punters will be about to place a too big bet, when he – and stats show that about nine in ten of sports gamblers are male – might suddenly think, “hang on, I better not, because that bloke did tell me to gamble responsibly”. Seriously. Anyone?
Personally, I would go further and make them say:
“Think about it – are you batshit crazy?”
“Show me a long-term gambler, and I’ll show you a long-term loser – no exceptions.”
“You realise, yes, that if you actually put together a few wins, we will more than likely just cancel your account? We only want consistent losers.”
While we are at it, can we get rid of all the overseas betting agencies, together with people like Samuel L Jackson patronisingly inferring that we Australians should be excited because his foreign-owned betting company has come to our country? (Remember that ad? Outrageous!)
Of course gambling should be legal, because that at least means its regulated, but in an industry built on people uselessly blowing money, does it not make a certain amount of sense to regulate access so that the money doesn’t immediately go offshore? If we are going to have a parasitical industry openly doing business, doesn’t it make sense that they’re at least run by our parasites?
And given the government is in a reforming mood on sports gambling, let’s take it further still: do we really have to have gambling logos and pasted over every moving part of sport, not to mention the unmoving parts like stadiums?
Yes, the argument will be that without the revenue from gambling, sport will die. Haven’t we heard it all before? It is a very familiar argument, and was said very strongly about tobacco advertising. In that case, the argument was won by reformers and the sports continued to prosper anyway.
Yup. Of course, I’ll be accused of being a wowser and the like. But when, of all the people in all the world, we Australians – pound for pound, kilo for kilo, person for person – rack up more gambling losses than any other people on the globe, how can you not recognise the problem? Don’t we all hear the stories, all the time, of fellow Australians who just keep chasing winners till they blow the lot, and their families apart in the process?
Bravo the government actually doing something to try and limit that damage.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
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