Sport is made for betting

As mentioned on this blog earlier in the year, Australian sports fans have been overwhelmed this year by betting advertising. That's fine if you love a punt, but if you have to avoid it for various reasons, there really was nowhere to turn. Live odds updates on scoreboards, official websites carrying live prices, and most annoying of all, the repeated paid plugs with live odds read out by the commentators. There has to be a happy medium - enough to interest potential punters but also allow those with no interest to tune out. MCG Trust tackles sports gambling head-on A significant blow against the pervasive advertising of sports betting at main venues has been struck. As Fairfax reported yesterday, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust will not renew an agreement with Betfair, which displays updated odds on scoreboards during AFL games. The MCG Trust, which controls a stadium where crowds of up to 100,000 gather, imposed the ban on live odds updates after complaints from members...

There's been more than enough proof over the years that this South Australian senator is just a headline seeker when it comes to his views against gambling. I admired his stance against pokies (slots/fruit machines in other parts of the world) which are in plague proportions in most of Australia, but his credibility, if he had any left, is seriously undermined when he gets involved in an argument like this. MP calls for ban on rate-rise betting Betting on the Reserve Bank's interest rates decision should be banned because it ''invites trouble'' and opens the door to corruption, Independent Nick Xenophon says. The Age yesterday reported that a stand-off between the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and online betting agency Centrebet, over betting on interest rate rises, had ended. ''Millions of Australians are affected by interest rate movements. It is not a game for families; for many families it can be the difference between pay...