New South Wales bans stadium ads of Big Bash League matches

As New South Wales attempts to raise awareness of the negative effects of gambling, the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling issued a press release stating that they’ve made a two-year ‘GambleAware’ partnership with Cricket NSW that will not allow betting firms to promote themselves at cricket grounds.

The latter and the NSW Office of Responsible gaming said that the partnership aims to promote a more ‘family friendly’ environment at matches that involve NSW, BBL, the WBBL teams, the NSW Blues and the Breakers.

This followed an already established broadcast agreement on free-to-air TV which banned betting adverts during and around 30 minutes of the games themselves, although there was no precedent to this in-stadium ban.

This wasn’t the first time that sports organizations were criticized for hindering the business of betting companies, having Cricket Australia reject a sponsorship for the Big Bash League, with the Chief Executive of CA saying ‘that is something we won’t do because it’s fun, family entertainment.’

This move will perhaps be viewed as another example of business hindrance but nonetheless it is worth mentioning that the organization still has Bet365 as a major corporate partner.

Regarding the BBL, it is estimated that more than AU$3 billion is bet on the league each summer.