Not before time if you ask me…apart from annoying commentators, the gambling ads were the biggest turn off to watching games (for me).
GAMBLING advertising during live AFL broadcasts on free-to-air TV, subscription TV and radio, will be banned before 8.30pm from later this month.
The new rules are being enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after an announcement by the Federal Government last May.
Gambling advertising, including betting odds, will be banned from five minutes before the scheduled start of a match until five minutes after the final siren.
The ban applies to all sports coverage – not just AFL.
The restrictions come into force from March 30 – with the Good Friday blockbuster between North Melbourne and St Kilda to be the first game guaranteed to be free of betting ads.
“The new restrictions on gambling advertising supplement existing rules about gambling advertising during live sport and significantly enhance community safeguards during times when children are part of the audience,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“The new rules will also ensure that broadcasters make clear to audiences, including parents, when gambling advertising is prohibited in live sport programming.”
The new code will be closely monitored over the next 12 months.
However traditional media outlets are concerned the gambling ad ban doesn’t apply to online sports sites.
“We are concerned that similar restrictions for online platforms have not yet been put in place. In fact, the legislation that will underpin rules to be developed by the ACMA has not yet been passed by the parliament,” Commercial Radio Australia chief executive Joan Warner said.
“This creates a real risk that gambling advertising will simply be shifted online for the time, possibly some months, during which no rules apply.”