A broadcasting loophole means Australia-based followers of the English Premier League (EPL) are subjected to quite a few betting adverts for offshore playing companies that may in any other case be prohibited from show on Australian screens.
That’s the idea of a grievance made to a media watchdog in opposition to the broadcaster, Optus Sport, studies The Guardian.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is probing a grievance in opposition to Optus by journalist and playing researcher, Jack Kerr. He’s alleging playing adverts featured in each single minute of play throughout a Premier League soccer sport in December 2023, when Aston Villa hosted Manchester Metropolis.
Optus Sport has held the rights to EPL video games in Australia since 2016 with the corporate not too long ago securing an extension to the deal, having paid round $600m to retain the profitable rights by to the top of the 2027-28 season.
The broadcaster enjoys a subscriber base of over a million clients in Australia for its streaming service.
Mr Kerr detailed in his grievance, “interactive playing firms are some of the ceaselessly seen merchandise on these pitch-side billboards” and the golf equipment “usually present adverts for a number of betting firms all through a match”.
It’s understood the pitch-side promoting boards are managed and managed by the Premier League golf equipment and might be tailor-made for various markets, in a mixture of collective league sponsors and particular membership agreements.
What are the playing restrictions in Australia?
In Australia, the Interactive Playing Act doesn’t enable offshore playing firms to supply bets to individuals primarily based in Australia and additional prohibits the promotion of their companies. Crucially, an exemption is obtainable if an advert is “an unintended or incidental accompaniment to the publication of different matter”.
The latter factors to the crux of the place adopted by Optus, with its spokesperson stressing the corporate “complies with the related Australian legal guidelines in its protection of all rights and content material. Australian playing promoting legal guidelines include exemptions for pitch-side promoting”.
“It’s normal in sports activities rights agreements to be required to transmit the unique feeds in full, with out modifying, and Optus Sport’s preparations are not any totally different,” they continued.
“Optus Sport is prohibited by the rights house owners from changing any pitch-side adverts utilizing digital promoting or in any other case.”
Playing firms pour hundreds of thousands into the EPL as a consequence of its mammoth international attain, with the league broadcast to an estimated 800 million properties in round 190 international locations.
Final yr, Premier League golf equipment agreed to finish main shirt sponsorship offers with playing manufacturers as of the top of the 2025/26 marketing campaign.
At current, eight of the 20 golf equipment within the competitors have betting firms as front-of-shirt sponsors, with the endorsements representing a collective worth of round £60m (A$116m) per yr.
Picture: Premier League/X
