The Dark Underbelly of Unregulated Gambling Advertising, and How it’s Affecting Students

Fergus Goodall Smith

Over the past year, you may have noticed something change in the behaviour of advertisements on the platforms you frequent most. Corny online pokies ads, blaring unskippables telling you to download Betcha, and seemingly unsponsored TikToks and Reels showing gambling tournaments in grotty Dunedin flats. This is the ugly world of unregulated gambling advertising in New Zealand, and it targets students in particular. The TAB has made no secret of the fact that its advertising demographic sits between 18 and 29. Sites like Betcha post flashy, clean-cut ads that appear regularly on young people’s phones, and there’s a scheduled uptick in the frequency in which they appear during major sporting events. The phenomenon here is that most of this student betting is associated with drinking. 

Salient reached out to students in Wellington who routinely gambled, asking them about their betting behaviours, how gambling and drinking intermixed, and whether cheeky gambling advertising had worked their magic on them. Hamish, a fourth year student, says that he and his friends bet almost exclusively when they’re drinking. “The idea of risks and losses are removed when you’re drunk”… “Betcha is specifically targeted towards competing between your mates, when you’re all drinking, that’s fun”. Another student, Jack, uses Betcha often and thinks its 100% student targeted. “Their adverts are filled with young people, they’re filmed in a pub, or at the races, I think they indirectly try to appeal to those living a ‘student lifestyle’. Jack says Betcha offers enticing bonus cash policies if you place riskier bets, encouraging people who aren’t willing to lose their money (students) to give it a try. When Salient asked Jack if adverts had encouraged him to bet more, he agreed wholeheartedly. “Whenever the NRL or the football comes on, Betcha tells me the odds, and I decide ‘why not?’”. Another Vic student, Simon, feels the same way. “Especially during a game I see more Betcha ads, it’s like a reminder to get on the app”. 

Andree Froude, Advocacy and Public Health Director at the Problem Gambling Foundation (PGF), told Salient that the foundation is extremely concerned about the increase in young people who are engaging in gambling, particularly sports betting. Regarding the advertising practices of companies like Betcha, he had this to say. “We’re concerned about the targeting of students and young people more broadly. This is who Betcha targets, and not only that, they offer inducements that encourage riskier gambling and higher participation”. Froude continued; “The only gambling advertising currently prohibited is that from overseas sites, but we still see these companies relentlessly target New Zealanders”. Despite well-documented evidence that the advertising of gambling furthers gambling participation, normalises gambling, and has a significant impact on those already experiencing gambling harm, Froude says it continues to be pervasive across traditional and digital platforms. The PGF recently submitted a petition to Parliament to ban gambling ads altogether in Aotearoa, it received 6,341 signatures. 

There’s also a more subliminal form of advertising going on. Instagram and TikTok users going under the aliases of ‘studylink_slaps’, ‘brewerybets’, and ‘dustysundayslaps’, who seem to originate from Canterbury and Otago universities, post videos of themselves and their friends placing outrageous bets. These bets can be upwards of $7,000 dollars, on games like Blackjack or slots, and heavy drinking is normally taking place in the background. The captions on these posts often include hashtags naming the site they play on, normally Rainbet, a crypto and casino sportsbook, which is an international company. Is this under the table advertising pushed into the student eco-system by international sites? Salient asked the Police and the Ministry of Justice if they were investigating the posts, they said the matter was not under their jurisdiction. 

Salient approached Betcha for comment on their practices, asking them whether they specifically targeted students with their ads or worked algorithms to push ads during the hours drinking was more likely to take place. They did not respond to our requests.