Do you bet on the footy? The AFL's engine.

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"The AFL’s ‘engine’: How gambling money underpins footy

One of the key figures in sports gambling in Australia has opened up about the millions flowing to footy from the gambling companies. It comes in ways that might surprise you.

By Sam McClure
March 12, 2022

When Matthew Tripp walked into the office of AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan in early 2014, he pitched a big vision.

The then boss of an also-ran sports gambling company called BetEasy knew his main competitor, the TAB, was paying the AFL $500,000 a year to be the league’s official wagering partner, and he wanted a piece of it.

By the time he walked out of the meeting, Tripp had made an astonishing offer. He would pay $6 million – 12 times the TAB’s price – for the exclusive right of his company to advertise on AFL platforms, as well as first access to official broadcasters, Seven, Fox and, as it was then, Telstra. (Telstra has since lost the digital rights, which are now owned by Foxtel streaming service Kayo.)
Matthew Tripp has become a rich man from sports gambling in Australia.

Matthew Tripp has become a rich man from sports gambling in Australia.Credit:Arsineh Houspian

For the AFL, swapping the known quantity of the TAB for what was then an unknown operation was a risk. But McLachlan had been sold on Tripp’s tenacity and his vision for the game.

According to recent reports, Tripp – who sold his remaining stake in BetEasy in 2019 in a $250 million deal – and his consortium are closing in on a deal that would see him help launch News Corp’s own revolutionary wagering company, which will rival Sportsbet, the parent company of BetEasy, in size and power.

For both men, the gamble has paid off. The millions have flowed to the AFL and in 2020 it inked another five-year sponsorship deal with Sportsbet. It costs Sportsbet between $12 million and $15 million a year, though a senior AFL source, who did not wish to be identified, told The Age the AFL only received $6 million to $8 million of that.
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But sponsorship is just one of the four ways gambling money pours into Australia’s most popular football competition.

The TV stations that pay for AFL broadcast rights are partly funded by the huge advertising spending of the betting companies. The on-ground advertising of gambling companies — which could have been abolished by the Andrews government — is worth up to $3 million to the AFL.
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And behind the scenes, an older and much more lucrative deal is also quietly funnelling cash to the AFL. Few know it exists and the AFL does not like to talk about it, but “product fees” are the mother lode, and experts are concerned they are increasing the game’s dependency on gambling even further.

The AFL isn’t alone in collective product fees. Almost all major sporting codes, including the NRL, the A-League, the NBL and the Australian Open all have integrity deals with corporate bookmakers.

“It’s the engine beneath the might of the AFL,” Tripp told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s a massive reliance now … If you rip gambling revenue out, they’re going to say: ‘Well, what the hell do we do now?’”
How gambling money underpins the AFL

How gambling money underpins the AFL

1:58
How gambling money underpins the AFL
How gambling money underpins the AFL

The Age's Sam McClure examines how reliant the AFL is on wagering money.
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A gambling revolution

In the early 2000s, the potential of sports betting conducted online had become apparent. The Howard government introduced legislation to try to control it. But a few years later, the markets were expanding and the money flowing through them was growing fast.

The AFL, then led by Andrew Demetriou, had had enough. He called the bookmakers together to demand a cut. Officially referred to as an “integrity agreement”, the deal that emerged means that, for every dollar made by corporate bookmakers (Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, Neds and others), the AFL would receive 10¢.

The money is known as a “product fee”. In essence, it’s a tax. It mirrored similar deals that had long been in place between horse racing and the TAB.

Tripp has become a rich man from sports gambling in Australia, and Sportsbet’s Australian operation has made it the jewel in the crown of its Ireland-based parent company, Flutter. He said the deal was a good one for the AFL.

“Imagine you’re putting on the party and it’s costing you a fortune. Suddenly, others want to jump in late and enjoy the festivities. You need to pay if you want to come,” he said.
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In the early stages of the agreement, the AFL was raking in about $15 million to $20 million annually from its 10 per cent cut of gambling. Two senior wagering sources have told The Age that number would be more than $30 million in 2022, possibly as high as $40 million.

The government also takes its cut. Since 2019, most states and territories have introduced a “point of consumption” tax on sports betting. In Victoria, it’s 10 per cent of the net wagering revenue.

In survey after survey, footy fans say the perceived influence of sports betting on the game – along with rule changes – are the things they dislike most about the AFL.

But Tripp, the gambling industry mogul who set up Sportsbet’s link with the AFL, says of the gambling revenue flowing into footy, “there’s only one way it’s going to go”. And that is up.
Integrity and ‘optics’
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Demetriou’s deal with the bookmakers had a legitimate integrity element. It meant the AFL had full oversight of every bet laid on football, and ensured the bookmakers would analyse and flag any potentially suspicious bet. If a player’s relative, for example, placed a bet on a game that the player had the power to influence, the AFL would be notified.

Prior to what the AFL calls the integrity agreement, it was flying blind.

“If we took that tool away from the AFL, we’d be back in the draconian days of illegal and offshore wagering,” Tripp said. “This would compromise the player behaviour and the integrity of the game more broadly, there’s no doubt about that.”
Gillon McLachlan (left) and Andrew Demetriou.

Gillon McLachlan (left) and Andrew Demetriou. Credit:Fairfax Media

The flow of money under the product fee arrangement places the AFL in the position of directly profiting from the proceeds of gambling. One of Gillon McLachlan’s favourite words in his tenure has been “optics”; and the optics of this relationship with sports betting could be seen as harmful.

This year, the AFL has changed the day on which the opening game of the season is played. Instead of starting with the traditional Richmond v Carlton fixture on a Thursday, the league has opted to instead play the grand final rematch between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs next Wednesday night.

The game would have otherwise been played on a Saturday or Sunday. By moving it to Wednesday, the league has created a stand-alone game. A senior Sportsbet source told The Age and Herald their company alone stood to make an extra million dollars in round one because the match would stand clear of weekend events such as other AFL games, rival sports and horse racing.
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There is no suggestion this is the reason the AFL is holding the game on Wednesday. But it’s impossible to overlook the fact that by moving one game to a stand-alone time slot, it stands to earn a considerable commission on the gambling bonanza it will create.
Time to crack down?

It does not take much to get the Western Bulldogs premiership captain Easton Wood talking about the impact of gambling on football. Easton, who recently retired, says he would happily have taken a pay cut if wagering companies were banned from advertising about football.

He’s concerned about the impact on his two children.
Bulldogs premiership captain Easton Wood celebrating the 2016 premiership.

Bulldogs premiership captain Easton Wood celebrating the 2016 premiership.Credit:Scott Barbour

“I want to be able to go to a game or watch a broadcast without being assaulted by any of it,” Wood told The Age and Herald. “What I’m worried about … is a generation of kids growing up watching football and gambling being a synonymous part of the sport and that being the gateway to turning 18 and starting gambling and that being a normal thing.”

Since Tripp and McLachlan sat down together in 2014, gambling on the footy has become overwhelming. Under the TAB, the focus was on head-to-head markets, premiership hopefuls and who would win the Brownlow Medal.
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Sportsbet exploded this staid offering with weekly specials. It introduced in-game exotic betting which allows punters to wager on almost anything – who will get the first touch; who kicks the first goal. And same-game multis allowing multiple bets on in-game play. A $5 or $10 bet gives hope of winning big. A generation of people, particularly young men, are being targeted by slick, humorous advertising appealing to the larrikin spirit.

The AFL downplays the value of this tie-up, saying the $10 million sponsorship is a small proportion of the game’s $100 million income from sponsorships, but Tripp says the AFL imprimatur helped revolutionise the range of betting products he could offer. It’s one of the deals that has helped take Sportsbet from a market value of $250,000 in 2005 to its current $12 billion to $14 billion.

Long-time anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello says the time has come to crack down.

“Everyone said the AFL couldn’t survive if we took alcohol advertising away ... and it survived. I think one day we will actually see change even though the horse appears to have bolted.”
Establishing limits

Perhaps recognising the danger, the industry has made moves in recent times to limit gambling advertising. Tripp set up the Responsible Wagering Association which has banned TV gambling advertising from siren to siren.

The association will also soon introduce the “national self-exclusion register”, which would mean someone who deletes their Sportsbet account would also be unable to bet with Ladbrokes or Neds.

Already advertising for betting products are not permitted during TV programs classified G or lower from 6am to 8.30am and 4pm to 7pm, or in programs directed at children between 5am and 8.30pm, including during sports broadcasts.
The Responsible Wagering Association will soon introduce a “national self-exclusion register”.

The Responsible Wagering Association will soon introduce a “national self-exclusion register”.Credit:iStock

Gambling advertising or promotion of odds is not permitted from five minutes before the scheduled start of play, until five minutes after play. Quarter time and half time are also free of gambling ads.

Asked if the magnitude of gambling advertising in Australia was reaching a concerning level, TabCorp said it had “long argued there is too much gambling advertising”.

“We supported the move to ban gambling advertising during live sport (excluding racing) that is broadcast during hours in which children are likely to be watching. More recently … we reiterated that position and suggested it could be expanded to include non-sports programming.”

But with a huge audience, an established revenue stream and a symbiotic relationship between game and gambling, sports betting, according to those who know it best, is going nowhere soon.
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“Rightly or wrongly, it’s only going one way in Australia,” Tripp said.

In a statement, the AFL said its relationships with wagering companies allows it to “invest in robust integrity measures to monitor wagering on our game as well as to invest back into our game at all levels”.

The AFL also pointed to a number of restrictions on wagering companies, including the times that gambling advertising was permitted, and said it had reduced the amount of wagering branding and signage at grounds.

All players, coaches and officials were not permitted to encourage, induce, advertise or promote betting on the AFL, the statement said.

Sportsbet declined to comment.