Former AFL player Brendan Fevola and the star of Love Island Australia Dom Thomas have been scolded for promoting a game offering online poker machine gambling. Both of them were criticized by the Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR), with a spokesperson of the organization describing the promotion as “a gateway to gambling addiction”.
Earlier this week, the 39-year-old Brendan Fevola used his Instagram account to share what appeared to be a sponsored post for Slotomania, a poker machine application. The post included an image of him playing the virtual slot machine game and a swipe-up link to the game app.
Once entered the application of the virtual slot machine game, users were given the chance to start playing the games for free. At a later stage of the game, they are required to pay extra in case they want to take advantage of additional features within the game. This is exactly what makes the application “gambling in disguise”, as it was described by Tim Costello, a leading figure at the Alliance for Gambling Reform.
According to Mr. Costello, such behavior from Ferola’s side was extremely disappointing, especially considering his own gambling issues. Brendan Fevola has spoken openly about his problem gambling behavior. In 2017, he revealed for Fox FM radio that he had lost AU$360,000 in three days. At the time, the former AFL player that he had been addicted to gambling really badly and he was aware that many other people’s lives had also been affected by problem gambling.
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Mr. Costello also criticized the gambling sector as a whole, scolding operators for targeting younger people and children through social media channels and so-called influencers. He explained that such an approach is very commonly used in the gambling industry, with companies luring young customers to their services by using the services of sports stars and influencers who make gambling look part of the everyday life.
The spokesperson of the Alliance for Gambling Reform shared that the organization is aware of the fact that some of the big industry players are making large investments in advertising in a way that would make their services lucrative to younger consumers by making gambling look normal via purchases of in-game items, loot boxes and other special features. These video game extra features are considered “gambling in disguise” by the organization that has been calling for strict restrictions to be imposed on the sector.
Mr. Costello further shared that he was satisfied with the reports that Australian pokie gamblers saved up AU$1.5 billion in the weeks since the massive closure of local pubs, clubs and casinos due to the social isolation measures due to the coronavirus outbreak. Still, it yet remains unknown what amount has been spent by Australian gamblers online during the lockdown.
