News and media releases: Love the Game

Three-time All-Australian, Geelong premiership player and new dad Jeremy Cameron today reaffirmed his commitment as an ambassador for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Love the Game program.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has welcomed the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.

Collingwood legend and new Love the Game ambassador Scott Pendlebury is disturbed that saturation advertising is making kids think gambling on sport is part of the game.

A multi-code event in Point Cook marked the beginning of 2023's Love the Game month, with emerging Hawthorn star Mitch Lewis; Melbourne Rebels’ players Ray Nu'u, Max Johnson and Michaela Maunsell; Melbourne United’s Shea Ili; North Melbourne AFLW players Jenna Bruton and Jasmine Garner; and juniors from the Point Cook Bulldogs.

Victoria’s 10 AFL clubs and AFL Victoria have renewed their Love the Game (LTG) partnerships through to October 2024, by which time all will have been free of sports betting sponsorships for at least five years.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has welcomed Western United as the second elite soccer club to join the Love the Game program, alongside rival team Melbourne Victory and more than 600 other Victorian sporting partners united against sports betting sponsorship.

More Victorians are being supported to address gambling harm, with an additional $660,000 for migrant and refugee communities, and community sporting clubs. Minister for Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne today announced extra funding for two Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation programs during Gambling Harm Awareness Week (19–25 October).

Gambling Harm Awareness Week (19–25 October), which this year coincides with AFL Grand Final week, was today launched at a virtual event highlighting the risks sports betting can pose to young men, including footy players.

In a dairy farming community in the Goulburn Valley, 304 of the 329 residents are members of the local tennis club. With such a high participation rate and a family-friendly feel, it’s no wonder the club won the Love the Game Community Sporting Club of the Year at the recent Victorian Sport Awards.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation will again team up with Vicsport in 2020 to encourage Victorian sporting clubs to love the game, not the odds. The cornerstone of...

The signing up of the Melbourne Boomers, Melbourne Vixens and Netball Victoria to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Love the Game Sporting Club Program means it is now embedded...

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation acknowledged the Geelong Cats’ announcement that the club has finalised arrangements to exit the last of its gaming venues early next year.

The vulnerability of sports people to gambling harm was highlighted at a recent AFL Players Association (AFLPA) forum, ‘Reducing the Risk’. Supported by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the forum involved researchers, psychologists and industry experts discussing gambling risks for professional and community sportspeople.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has welcomed the news today that Western Bulldogs FC has finalised arrangements to divest itself of any interest in pokies. An early...

In this edition Louise discusses: The Foundation and AFL Victoria's Love The Game Round, funding opportunities for Gambling Harm Awareness Week, loot box senate inquiry, The Foundation’s third biennial conference, Gambling harm: Taking action for change.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s acting CEO, Craig Swift, today congratulated AFL Victoria for its commitment to reducing the exposure of young people to sports betting advertising.

In an environment in which sports betting advertising is prolific, and sport and betting are increasingly seen as going hand-in-hand, we have an obligation to engage with young people and inform them about the risks and potential harms associated with gambling, according to Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation acting CEO Craig Swift.

At the age of 21, John* had lost everything. Two years later, he’s on the way back.

AFL Hall of Famer Scott West was considered one of the hardest working and most sportsman-like of footy players. His career spanned 16 seasons and 324 games for the Western Bulldogs, winning a record seven Charlie Sutton medals as best and fairest for the club. In life, as in the game, he’s widely regarded as a bloke who tells it as it is. Here he advises young players of today – as well all young people – how to keep themselves safe, and when to make a stand.

In the week leading up to the AFL Victoria 2018 “Love the Game” themed round, we caught up with Darren Crocker. Darren was a versatile North Melbourne player for 14 years, notching up 165 games, with a few injuries in between. He is currently North Melbourne’s Director of Coaching and Midfield Coach. Darren particularly appreciates the “Love the Game” round because it serves as a reminder to fans, club officials and players that the game, at the grass roots or professional level, retains its pure spirit, despite the increasingly aggressive presence of sports betting promotions and advertising.