The gambling industry has women in its sights. Why aren’t policymakers paying attention?
- Written by Simone McCarthy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Commercial Determinants of Health, Deakin University
Whatever the code, whatever the season, Australian sports fans are bombarded with gambling ads.
Drawing on Australians’ passion, loyalty and pride for sport, the devastating health and social consequences of gambling – including financial stress, homelessness, family violence, and mental health issues – are largely sidelined.
Instead, ads continue to normalise gambling, encouraging punters to embrace mateship and “have a crack” on gambling apps.
A missed opportunity
This prolific advertising has continued despite the findings of a landmark Australian parliamentary inquiry in 2022, which made 31 recommendations to curb the tactics of the gambling industry.
Chair of the inquiry, the late Peta Murphy MP, concluded:
If the status quo of online gambling regulation, including but not limited to advertising, was to continue, Australians would continue to lose more – more money, more relationships, more love of sport for the game rather than the odds.
However, instead of acting on the major findings of the report, the Australian government indefinitely shelved any meaningful advertising reforms after meeting with major sporting codes, broadcasters and the gambling industry.
Instead, we have been left to settle for a range of soft options, including taglines at the end of ads that encourage us to: “imagine what you could be buying instead”.
It’s hard to be convinced these calls to action are having much impact compared to the seductive tactics of the gambling industry, with gambling losses continuing to spiral during a cost-of-living crisis.
A new market
While the government hesitates to act on gambling ads, the gambling industry has a new set of customers in its promotional sights: women.
Public perception is that most forms of gambling are largely male-dominated.
However, in Victoria, 51% of women gamble each year (compared to 56% of men), and in NSW, 48.5% of women gamble (compared to 58.7% of men).
Women are also gambling regularly. The 2023 Victorian Population Gambling and Health study found that of those women who gamble, 22.8% do so at least once a week (compared to 29.3% of men).
Our research shows a combination of new marketing strategies, easy-to-use technology and social activities aligned with gambling venues and products may be changing the way women (and girls) think about and participate in gambling.
How it begins
For some young women it is a tradition to “go down to the pokies” or the casino when they turn 18.
Some visit these venues for other entertainment options and end up gambling. For others, gambling ads encourage them to open online accounts. As one 25-year-old woman told us:
That’s how I started sports betting, because it was on TV. Bonus bet, sign up today. Okay, that sounds good. So that’s what got me in.
Young women are also diversifying their gambling across multiple products, with technology making it more accessible, easier and more socially acceptable.
This includes women betting with groups of friends, but also on their own:
You’ll sit around and all watch the footy, but you’ll all be gambling because it’s just more accessible. It’s easy. Also, I think it’s easier for females to go and seek it out on their own too, you know, if they have the app available. It’s not like they’re going up to someone at the pub and betting.
Parents have even told us their daughters and their friends now talk about the outcomes of sporting matches based on the odds of the game.
A different landscape
Gambling companies and events, including racing, are also reshaping the image of gambling, making it seem fun and glamorous.
This includes embedding gambling into spaces and experiences that align with women’s social and lifestyle interests, such as fashion and beauty, and peer group belonging.
In racing, gambling is embedded as part of an overall experience for women. As one 23-year-old told us:
I went to the races with my friends. We dressed up pretty and went, and that was like a girl’s day out thing […] I bet on horses just like once, just like for fun, as part of the experience.
New gambling products are branded to appeal to women, and betting markets are now offered on popular reality shows such as Married at First Sight, the box office numbers for the opening weekend of the new Snow White movie, who will win Eurovision, and Time’s Person of the Year.
But it is perhaps the use of celebrities and social media influencers that may have the most appeal to women and more concerningly, girls.
Women influencers on TikTok and Instagram promote betting as an extension of social activities.
In our recent study one 13-year-old girl told us:
When you recognise someone from an ad, it makes it more interesting and it makes you want to watch it more.
Gambling companies are also sponsoring women’s sports, supporting women’s health initiatives, and even aligning with International Women’s Day.
We’ve seen this approach before
The gambling industry is following a well-worn playbook, one mastered by the tobacco industry: when their core market of men became saturated, Big Tobacco turned its attention to women, crafting targeted marketing strategies and novel products to engage new, long-term consumers.
However, rather than learning the lessons from tobacco, policymakers have been slow to recognise and respond to the playbook of the gambling industry.
If we want to disrupt the status quo and prevent harm for all Australians, we must take action against the gambling industry and its tactics, rather than the individual, as the key vector of harm.
Authors: Simone McCarthy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Commercial Determinants of Health, Deakin University
