Australia's most-prominent athletes have spoken up in recent weeks against companies sponsoring their sporting organisations, citing concerns around climate change and racism. 

But there's also emerging resistance from others around wagering providers and their impact.

The federal government announced this week it would require new warnings in ads by betting companies to replace the phrase "gamble responsibly", and professional sport clubs are increasingly signing on to anti-gambling campaigns.

Meanwhile, two of Australia's top sports podcasts have turned down partnership offers from betting companies, and the host of another — after hearing from those who have suffered gambling harm — no longer works with the industry.

The response highlights a growing tension within Australian sport about the normalisation of wagering.

In one 2019 study almost a quarter of bettors reported being under 18 when they first placed a bet. More than two thirds of young men who bet on sport were found to be at risk of, or already experiencing, gambling harm.

Western Sydney Wanderers last month extended their relationship with the NSW Office of Responsible Gaming and its Reclaim the Game campaign to now include their A-League Women's side.

Club CEO Scott Hudson said at the time "it is important for us to have an impact beyond the field".

The arrangement has also had a positive impact on the club's bottom line. Its precise value is deemed commercial in confidence, but a similar deal between Adelaide United and the South Australian government last year netted the club $328,000 over three years.

Reclaim the Game has sponsorship arrangements with the Sydney Swans, basketball's Kings and Flames, Cricket NSW, soccer's Macarthur Bulls and the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs in the NRL.

The program's funding for the current year is $1.2 million.

The revenue is comprised of a levy drawn from NSW’s two casinos and the point of consumption tax on online wagering.

The scheme was modelled on the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and its Love the Game, Not The Odds campaign, established in 2013.

That program now includes 10 AFL clubs, the Boomers and Phoenix in basketball, rugby's Rebels, netball's Vixens, cricket's Stars and Renegades and Western United in the A-Leagues. 

It claims to have blocked as much as $5.9 million in gambling sponsorship between 2019 and 2021.

But there is no shortage of opportunity for sports betting companies to advertise.

Money flowing

Wagering companies have long-running relationships with Australia's major sporting organisations, like the NRL and the AFL, as Australia's gambling laws require companies to have a sport's approval before bets can be placed on the code.

Betting companies have also struck deals with clubs, former stars, broadcasters or the wider media. But not all have accepted what's on offer.

Sam Perry from The Grade Cricketer podcast says the decision by him and co-host Ian Higgins to turn down wagering partnerships was primarily driven by content considerations, and the kind of show they wanted to make.

"We're lucky enough to be listened to by tens of thousands of young adults, some are under 18, some are over 18, and as sportswatchers we observe those often kids and young adults will get smashed with gambling ads every time they watch sport.

"Aussies are rightly sceptical of moralisers and wowsers, and we reference alcohol and drugs all the time on the show, but from a fan's perspective no matter how it's dressed up, gambling coverage irritates people and is inherently unfunny, so we give it a wide berth."

The Grade Cricketer sits within Apple's top 20 Australian sports podcasts chart alongside The Final Word, from cricket journalists Geoff Lemon — a former casino croupier — and Adam Collins.

They too have turned down approaches from wagering companies, and have previously interviewed ABC journalist Steve Cannane in 2019 following his investigation into Bet365, Cricket Australia's own wagering partner.

Yet the competitive market in sports betting and its reliance on advertising has given those within sport and sports media a growing source of revenue.

The gambling industry spent $287 million on advertising in Australia in 2021, up from $90 million in 2011.

Perry says he doesn't judge others who have accepted gambling sponsorships.

"We have friends and colleagues who do similar things to us, who make partnerships with gambling companies, and we support their right to grow their business however they see fit morally and ethically."

Changing one mind

Soccer broadcaster Max Rushden moved to Australia last year, and has had associations with betting companies through his previous work in the UK.

But when the host of the Guardian Football Weekly podcast — currently fifth on Apple's Australian sport podcasts chart — signed a deal with a bookmaker three years ago to do social media promotions, it triggered a period of introspection.

"Deep down I knew it was a morally questionable decision, and if I was a real hero, I would have just said no straight away," he said. 

"I sent out my first tweet, and the reaction I got was very kind of 'I'm not angry I'm just disappointed, I'm surprised you would do this'."

Former gambling addict James Grimes contacted him, and the issue was discussed on the podcast.

"I spoke to James and a number of other gambling addicts, and the more you understand about the gambling industry, the more likely it was that I would step away.

"I remember chatting to James, and he said he was sitting by his father's deathbed, and he was on an online gambling site, just playing a casino wheel, and that really kind of hit me as a singular moment."

Rushden said he was fortunate that he was professionally busy enough to be in a position to end the betting partnership, and he recognises some of his other work is supported by bookmaker ads and sponsors. 

"I'm not so principled that I have not stepped away from that, because I think you should be able to do your work, because unless you work in the BBC in the UK you need money from advertising.

"But I think it will be really interesting in the future if it goes down the same route as cigarette and alcohol advertising and whether it stops completely."

Many believe there is simply too much sport betting advertising. Nine out of 10 sports fans according to a 2020 survey funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation agree people aged 12 to 17 see too much sports betting advertising.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said on ABC NewsRadio the change in gambling advertising taglines announced today was the first step in a range of reforms currently being considered.

However, she declined to answer why the government hasn't banned betting ads altogether:

Rushden said his main concern was for those people who suffer from gambling addiction.

"It isn't enough to say, oh well, 'when the fun stops, stop' [the UK's safer gambling advertising message] at the end of a big advert saying bet on all these things.

"And it being on the front of every shirt, at every ground, in every advert break at half-time and full-time."

But he recognises gambling is an established part of sport and broader society, and that every participant has to draw their own line somewhere.

"I guess I am something of a hypocrite, because I still talk about it occasionally on radio and things, but my stand is I won't take the money directly.

"… And I just hope that no bookmaker offers me 20 million dollars and really tests my resolve."