Australians Losing Billions Via Gambling & All Those Sports Betting Ads
Australians lose more money gambling per capita than any other nation on earth.
“Gambling is a major public policy issue in Australia, affecting the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in a range of ways. Estimates suggest that Australians lose approximately $25 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, representing the largest per capita losses in the world (Letts 2018; QGSO 2022).”
(https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/gambling)
I watch some of those funny ads promoting gambling on TV and I wonder who their target audience is laughing at? ‘Stupid is as stupid does’, someone in the movies once said. There is public pressure on at the moment to ban gambling ads from our screens. Apparently, plenty of Aussies would like to see them disappear from our screens. The argument from some quarters against their demise is that our TV networks and sporting clubs would disappear along with them because they have become financially dependent upon the revenue from them for their survival. This is poppycock, of course, because they existed prior to the advent of this flood of gambling ads and corporate bookmakers came along. Sporting clubs will adjust, as they always have to whatever the current economic climate is. The demise of free to air TV networks is another matter, as they face obsolescence due to a number of factors. One of which is that people are no longer watching their fare in a changed entertainment space. Technology has passed them by and their business model is out of date.
Mug Punters
