One in Five Australians Between 18 and 64 Bets on Sports

Sydney agency Chaos Media reported that money spent on advertising Australian sports betting rose a staggering 13% to $127 million just over the past year.

Statistics revealed that one in five Australians between 18 and 64 bet on sports at least once a month.

Crossman Communications conducted a study involving 1,200 Australians. The results showed that Australian sportsbook operators have successfully “normalized” the practice of sports betting. In other words, the use of heavy advertising and sport sponsorships contributed to the social acceptance of sports betting.

But according to Jackie Crossman of Crossman Communications, the open call to action to place bets has also “woken people up to the dangers of receiving live odds updates and direct sponsorships of teams with logos plastered over players’ uniforms.”

A third of the study’s subjects agreed that sports betting sponsorship of teams should be ended. 40% of the surveyed opined that commentators should not be incorporating betting stats into their match analysis.

One in eight who answered the survey said sports betting advertising represented more threat to society than alcohol or tobacco promos. Some of this minority even explicitly expressed that Australian gambling laws should ban sports betting ads.

Aussie Formula One driver Mark Webber is a self-claimed sport lover but seems to be a strong critic of sports betting. Webber told the Australian gambling news he wasn’t “a big fan of how much sports betting is rammed down your throat in Australia, in terms of how you can bet on who farts at what stage in a football match.”

Webber added: “It is incredible how obsessed we have become with gambling and betting, but to each his own. I would rather ride my mountain bike.”