A WA man has lodged formal complaints with several broadcasters stating that he finds it “distracting” to focus on ruining his life with all this football going on in between gambling advertisements.
He says from Thursday to Sunday, he clears his schedule to get back-to-back, blockbuster sports betting entertainment and is worried the creeping intrusion of actual sport is taking his eye off the prize. He told The Times,
“I hate the way my kids skip off to school with everything they need in the morning, I hate that my wife still makes eye contact with me and I really hate that I haven’t burned any bridges with friends & family begging for coin. So I’m working on it! And I keep seeing bloody footy pop up during my gambling ads!!!”
In a particular scathing complaint to Channel 7 & The AFL, the man has said he will seek injunctive relief if they don’t rein in the coverage of the game in favour of more hilariously blokey Sportsbet ads depicting young men on the verge of the worst habit they’ll ever form. He told The Times,
“Think it’s time these broadcasters took some responsibility for the things they show on their broadcasts, right? They market themselves as the home of gambling ads and once they attract a loyal audience they go and hit them with disgusting displays of physical elitism. I don’t want my kids watching that. I want them to be chain smoking outside a TAB when they grow up not running free pursuing excellence”
We understand that most of the broadcasters who received the complaints agree 100%. A source close to a major broadcaster of gambling ads featuring a little AFL told The Times,
“They know they have to do better and will endeavour to cram at least 50% more gambling ads into their broadcasts. They say they are ultimately run by humans who sometimes get it wrong and they are dedicated to rectifying it”
It was no doubt a refreshing thing to hear. Then the source really made us believe they were serious. They added,
“Our partners are offering 2.10 odds on an increase of 50% gambling ads or more and if your bet doesn’t get up we’ll give you a bonus bet to go double or nothing for a 75% increase over the next quarter”
Finally.