It’s hard to overstate to people who don’t live in Australia just how ubiquitous gambling is here. It’s a local joke here that if rain droplets are falling down a window pane, there will be an Aussie willing to bet on the first to reach the bottom.
Punting is woven into the story of Australia, from the soldiers at Anzac Cove in the World War I playing two-up to pass the time to Phar Lap, the underdog horse that got the nation through the Great Depression. Aussies love sports, too, and their performance at the Paris Olympics — coming fourth in the medal tally despite having just twenty-five million people — attests to how central a role they play in the national narrative.
It’s no wonder, then, that sports betting is a big deal. For Americans basking in the liberalization of sports betting, Australia’s experience should be a cautionary tale.
Gambling isn’t just part of the culture in Australia; it’s completely unavoidable.
The saturation of advertising for gambling companies on TV is total, far beyond anywhere else in the world, to the point that there is now serious pushback on just how much content is chucked at the average person every day.
Watching the news? Reality TV? A nice nature documentary? Expect to be bombarded by such brands as Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, Neds, and TAB.
More than a million gambling ads are broadcast annually in Australia, across TV, radio, and the internet. Half of those are from just five companies.
Sports betting has recently been liberalized in the United States. Australia presents the nightmare scenario of…
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Auteur: Mike Meehall Wood
