Sports fans are watching more advertisements for alcohol during football games than they were 12 months ago, and experts say the exposure will lead to an increase in family violence at home.
A report titled “State of Play: Alcohol and gambling industry influence in the AFL and NRL” found that every AFL and NRL club is sponsored by an alcohol company. It also reported that every NRL club and five AFL clubs were sponsored by gambling organisations.
The report revealed that the NRL makes about $50 million a year from deals with sports betting companies, while the AFL makes up to $40 million a year.
Both the AFL and NRL have numerous events that attract alcohol and gambling sponsors. The NRL and NRLW State of Origin series, and the NSW Blues and Queensland Maroons, are also sponsored by alcohol and gambling companies.
All AFL clubs and 12 of 17 NRL clubs advertised alcohol brands at stadiums during matches, while all clubs in both leagues promoted alcohol brands via their social digital channels.
It is not just in stadiums where alcohol advertising is pervasive, but during matches broadcast on free-to-air TV too.
The number of alcohol sponsors of AFL and NRL free-to-air broadcasting partnerships has increased since 2025, the report found, and will continue to rise under deals with Seven and Nine (the publisher of this masthead), ensuring that viewers are exposed to more alcohol advertising during free-to-air matches. Nine’s 2025 NRL broadcasting partnership did not have any alcohol sponsors, but Jim Beam and Lion (owner of XXXX and Tooheys) have linked with the game this year. In 2025, Seven’s AFL coverage was sponsored by alcohol retailer BWS and Lion. The network added two more alcohol sponsors for its 2026 coverage, Jim Beam and Asahi Beverages (owner of Carlton Draught and Hard Rated).
The Foundation for Alcohol Education and Research (FARE) chief executive Ayla Chorley said its findings were proof that alcohol advertising “saturates” the viewer’s experience of sport.
“We are absolutely seeing an increase in the level of alcohol sponsorship in sport, particularly in the AFL and NRL,” she said.
“The saturation of the sponsorship is significant, and it’s deeply embedded within these multimillion-dollar systems that provide sport to our community.
“[Alcohol] advertising is linked to higher levels of alcohol consumption, which in turn increases the risk of alcohol-related family and domestic violence.”
Former Canberra Raiders player Luke Bateman, who provided evidence this week at a Senate inquiry into Labor’s contentious gambling reform package, has also spoken openly about his experience with the “glorified” culture of football codes that encourage excessive drinking.
“You played footy, and then you went and had as many beers as possible and got blind drunk,” he told the Herald.
Bateman said that binge-drinking was embedded in this culture, and overexposure, especially from a young age, instils an idea that sports such as the AFL and NRL are synonymous with behaviours such as alcohol consumption and gambling.
“Advertising doesn’t give people a problem, but what it does is normalises it and makes it seem as though sports cannot exist without these things,” Bateman said.
The FARE report found that children were more likely to be exposed to alcohol advertising because of a loophole that allows commercials to be shown at any time during live match broadcasts, overriding restrictions designed to reduce alcohol-related harm.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is reviewing these television advertising guidelines to determine whether stricter regulations are needed to amend the loopholes.
Experts say a child’s exposure to alcohol marketing is directly linked to alcohol-related harm and increases the risk of children consuming alcohol at younger ages, and in dangerous volumes.
Professor Elizabeth Handsley, president of Children and Media Australia, said that “children are more susceptible to advertising associated with their heroes”.
“Seeing this alcohol branding associated with a team they’re passionate about, or their family is passionate about … that’s going to be very, very powerful,” she said.
ACMA is expected to hand down its decision on advertising guidelines within weeks.
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Emily Kaine is a national news blogger at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
