NRL considers a deal with gambling site

It looks as though the NRL in Australia is a considering a promotion of offshore gambling which will avoid the law on unregulated foreign companies providing gambling services to Australians.

The 16 clubs in the NRL would advertise on FullTiltPoker.net and in return the clubs would promote the gambling company on their own websites.

At the present time it is expectd that there will be a trial period of a few months and that the advertisments would appear on a ‘practice’ site rather than on the official gambling sites.  Because no money will change hands on the practice site there is a strong argument that it will not break the law.

The Sydney Roosters already have a sponsorship arrangement with FullTiltPoker and have been asked to explain this deal to the Federal Government.

There have been many changes in interactive gaming in the 9 years since the government passed the law on internet gambling.  The Productivity Commission is currently holding an enquiry into the gaming industry and it seems that Australians gamble around $790 million on offshore sites every year.  This is about 3 times the amount spent on onshore sports betting and nearly half the total spent on race betting.

It will be interesting to see how this proposed venture proceeds and whether they encounter any problems with the Federal Government.