News from the CEO: Celebrating family friendly football

Louise Glanville, CEO, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation

I experienced one of the best events football has to offer when I attended the VFL men’s, VFL women’s and TAC Cup Grand Finals at Etihad Stadium over the weekend.

In addition to the stellar on-field performance of each team, I was struck by something occurring off the pitch, or rather, something that was missing. Betting advertising. Sitting in one of Melbourne’s great stadiums, surrounded by families supporting local teams, I was witness to children cheering on their sporting heroes without the distraction of sports betting advertising. It was a special kind of football victory.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation is determined to disrupt the normalisation of gambling and proliferation of betting advertising for the next generation of sporting fans. This is why we have partnered with nine AFL leagues and commissions, as well as 295 local sporting clubs, for our Love The Game sporting club program.

It is promising to see the progress our partners are making to break the circuit of betting advertising and provide a space that all the community, particularly younger fans, can enjoy.

I wish to warmly congratulate our partner, AFL Victoria, for breaking away from the pack and saying ‘no’ to gambling ads. Sunday's event shows that we can all love the game, without focusing on the odds.