Australien reformerar förbudet mot sportspelannonser, men först från 2031

Australien antog en spelreform den 19 augusti som riktar sig mot spelreklam, stärker verkställighetsåtgärder mot den svarta marknaden, stärker BetStop (det nationella självuteslutningsregistret) och hanterar ökningen av online‑lotterier. Reformen har godkänts av parlamentet och kommer huvudsakligen att träda i kraft den 1 januari 2027. Det innebär, med undantag för reklamreformen, att en klausul ger operatörer med befintliga partnerskap fem år, fram till den 31 december 2031, att övergå till de nya lagarna.

Dessa lagar skulle förbjuda spelannonser i alla sportevenemang, under TV‑ och radioutsändningar samt under live‑sändning av matcherna. Sportkläder, idrottare, kändisar och andra personer får inte bära eller visa någon spelreklam, och sportarenorna får inte heller visa den.

The big outrage here being that while Australia has finally reformed its gambling advertising laws, it will not be enforced until 2031, and so viewers may still see gambling ads in sports for the next 5 years.

Australiens reformer för spelreklam

This package of gambling reforms, called the Interactive Gambling Amendment, was published on the 19th of August and it will mostly go into effect from 1 January. The Guardian picked up on the story, and the reaction from Senator David Pocock, who said it was an absurd situation, given the legislation took three years to pass and gambling sponsors may still appear on sports jerseys for another 5 years. The government’s plan is to reduce overt wagering ads during sports, particularly to protect children and vulnerable parties, and break the association of sports and gambling in Australia.

The ban will cover all live sporting coverage, with TV and radio restrictions throughout the day.

• Fullständiga förbud mot spelreklam på radio under skolans av- och påstignings tider
• Endast tre spelannonser per timme mellan 06.00 och 20.30 på television
• Ingen spelrelaterad innehåll på uniformer eller i sportarenor
• Sändning av odds‑promotion är förbjuden
• Idrottare, kändisar, influencers och vissa andra personer får inte användas för att marknadsföra spelinnehåll

The only exceptions are the wagering ads relating to racing – specifically horse racing, harness racing and greyhound racing. To be clear here, wagering ads would technically be allowed, but only on dedicated racing programs, channels, and online services dedicated to racing and wagering.

Reaktioner på spelmarknadsföringsplanen

The caveat here is that Schedule 5 of the act (Application, Saving and Transitional Provisions), announced, under Excluded arrangements, that the new IGA Act does not apply to operators that already have contracts or arrangements before the act is enforced (January 1). So, operators with existing partnerships to Aussie sports teams, clubs or sports organisations, can theoretically carry on advertising their gambling products until the 31 december 2031 deadline. In a TV interview with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the PM stated that:

“Now we will have AdStop, where people can take themselves off receiving any ads on any of their devices or online, whatsoever. This is significant reform. If we take, for example, the betting agencies currently involved with something like 14 or 15 NRL clubs, that’ll be gone. The naming of grounds, sporting grounds with sponsorships. Gone.”

Interviewer Sarah Ferguson added: “By 2031, I think the last one.” To which Albanese responded:

“Gone in terms of we’re not breaching existing contracts which are there and therefore having to compensate with taxpayers. What we are doing is taking very strong action that will make an enormous difference.”

Liberal MP Andrew Wallace was reported by the Guardian as having pushed for a 2-year transition period, stating:

“I thought that was an appropriate period to allow these sporting codes and clubs to find alternatives and to cease those gambling company connections,”

The ruling has not gone down well, especially as so many Aussie teams have gambling sponsorships, including teams in the NRL (National Rugby Legue) and Australian Football League (AFL).

Jämförelse med de brittiska spel‑sponsorerna

Jumping to the UK quickly, gambling sponsorships there are highly contested. When the 2026/27 Premier League began, it was the first to feature no front-of-shirt gambling sponsors – a voluntary decision made by the league itself to rid itself of gambling sponsors. The decision, while popular, did have impacts on the teams, with an estimated £80 million lost from gambling sponsorships. And, this did not signal the complete end of gambling sponsorship in top-tier English football, as the sponsors can still take up advertising space in the stadium boards, shirt sleeves, training kits, and other associated team merchandise.

What had both the UK Gambling Commission and the regulated operators in the UK up in arms was that a lot of the sponsors were not actually regulated in the UK. Such is the global appeal of the Premier League, that operators targeting Asian, African, even American consumers could form white-label partnerships with local UK businesses and get their branding into the Premier League.

The issue it still being reviewed, and the UK government recently opened a consultation on the possibility of making unlicensed gambling sponsorship a criminal offence.

Lagförslag om interaktivt spelreform 2026

Australia, whose NRL and AFL leagues don’t have the same widespread influence, doesn’t really have the same worries about unregulated operators. The Interactive Gambling Amendment also reinforced some of the player protections and black market fighting systems in the country.

Stärkning av BetStop

BetStop is Australia’s national self-exclusion register, and the IGA added extra requirements to the service. For one, operators have to close a person’s wagering account within 7 days of the self-exclusion being triggered (giving time for outstanding or pending bets to settle or be resolved).

There are stricter conditions on advertising to people who have self-excluded, and a new rule was introduced for people who’s self exclusion period ends. For the first 3 months after their exclusion period ends, operators cannot send them gambling inducements (read: bonuses).

Stärkning av verkställighet mot den svarta marknaden

The Australian gambling authorities previously used tactics such as blocking offshore sites to curb the unregulated gambling activity. But with the IGA reforms, they can now disrupt those services too. For instance, they have stronger mechanisms for dealing with black market gambling ads – even online services and B2B providers have a role in fighting the black market, and can be called into taking action against illegal gambling services. Financial institutions and payment providers will also face obligations to prevent black market gambling. So the authorities can now target:

• Webbplatsökning
• Reklammedier
• Värd-/infrastrukturleverantörer
• Betalningsgateways och leverantörer

Hantera online‑keno och utländska lotterier

And the final article relates to online Keno, which has historically been treated as an “excluded lottery service”. This became a problem for Australia as the category broadly defines different kinds of alternative lotteries, from niche competitions like Prize Draw Competitions to alternative raffles or tombolas. Keno, which has become quite a tradition in Australia, has come into a life of its own in the online world. And not in a good way. This game was pinned as a relatively low-harm, excluded lottery game, until the online operators came along and provided fast-paced, repetitive, and “slot machine-like gameplay” keno.

Landbased keno won’t be touched, but online keno is going to be classed as a “prohibited interactive gambling service” under the new IGA. That, and the “foreign-matched lotteries”, which were lotteries linked to the outcome of foreign lottery outcomes. To be clear, this is not secondary lottery betting – where you make props bets on the lottery outcomes – but instead intermediary services that allow Aussies to buy tickets in foreign lotteries, then buy the matching tickets, and pay out the Aussies if they win. Thus entering foreign lotteries without direct approval or recognition. Oh, and keno and foreign lotteries will also be added to the BetStop framework under the IGA.

IGA‑reformer framåt

These are all positive changes in the Australian iGaming industry, and come 2027 the sector will have far stronger player protection and black market fighting systems. As for the gambling sponsorships, these will still stick around. There are clubs and organisations that still have a few years left on their gambling sponsorship deals, and it is highly unlikely that operators will pull out of them.

It could also be a concern for the clubs themselves, like in England, where it was reported that English clubs could lose millions of pounds if their gambling sponsors exit. Sure, there would be tech, real estate, entertainment, travel, and financial institutions who would be ready to gobble up the space (very likely also companies in the alcohol industry – which some would argue is equally as dangerous as gambling sponsors). But this advertising space may lose some of its market value.

Australia is definitely jumping on the trend of tightening gambling legislation, targeting black market operators, and generally cleaning up the reach of the marketing campaigns. Most are on board, but given the long transition, it won’t feel like any difference has been made for a few years.