Football Victoria (FV) is partnering with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) for the Love the Game round on August 23-26.
The Love the Game program aims to reduce the exposure of young people to sports betting promotion, helping them understand that sport and betting don’t have to go together.
FV CEO Peter Filopoulos said he was proud to support the initiative in the high-profile Round 26, the NPL’s last round before finals.
He said around 74% of Victorian adults believed that young people were exposed to too much gambling advertising. The VRGF estimates that 75 per cent of children aged 8–16 years think betting on sport is normal and 3 out of 4 can name one or more sports betting companies.
“With over 350,000 Victorians participating in the world game, many of these are young people from very diverse backgrounds. We want to encourage all kids to love the game, not the odds,” Mr Filopoulos said.
“So help us look out for the next generation by having ‘the talk’ with the young people in your life,” he said.
There are already 85 Victorian football clubs signed up to Love the Game. Registering only takes a couple of minutes by following the method below:
- Agree to say no to sports betting sponsorship and sign up to Love the Game. Visit lovethegame.vic.gov.au/join.
- Follow the initiative on social media to stay up-to-date with all things Love the Game - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram : #LoveTheGameNotTheOdds
- Share messages – simply copy and paste to your club’s social media and website! Visit lovethegame.vic.gov.au/resourcehub to access ready-to-go content.
- Encourage everyone in your community to have ‘the talk’ with the kids in their lives.