Sportsbetting in Victoria, Australia Peter Cohen

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Victorians like to think Melbourne is the sporting capital of the world – Australian Open Tennis – Formula 1 Grand Prix – Moto GP – Olympic Games (1956) – Commonwealth Games (2006) – Home of Australian Football (AFL) – Spring Racing Carnival (including Melbourne Cup Day – a public holiday) – Boxing Day Test (cricket) Sport in Victoria

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia

Sportsbetting in Australia is a A$3.5 billion (US$3.1 billion) per annum market Has been legal and regulated since 1982 and allows betting on approved events by licensed providers Victoria recognised the threats to integrity and implemented a new regulatory scheme in 2007 Scheme includes – enhanced integrity measures to protect both betting and the sport – responsible gambling requirements – mechanism for the distribution of benefits Sportsbetting

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Gaming regulator can approve a sport as suitable for betting but only if satisfied that – the sport has manageable integrity risks – the sporting event is administered by an organisation capable of enforcing rules to ensure integrity of the sport – betting would not be offensive or not be contrary to the public interest Regulator approves betting rules Regulator approves and monitors betting system Integrity measures

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia In Victoria, a sport can be approved as a “sports controlling body” if it satisfies regulator that it is the controlling body, has adequate integrity procedures and acts on integrity concerns Integrity procedures include: – Ban on players, club officials, referees, etc, from placing bets on that sport – Documented rules of games which clarify how results are determined (eg, what happens if the lights go out mid-match? Or if a player withdraws through injury during a game?) Sports empowered

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Once approved as a “sports controlling body”, licensed betting operators can only take bets on that sport’s events with the sport’s approval Sports will grant approval to licensed betting operators who agree to integrity procedures – Such as exchange of information about suspicious betting transactions – Checks to see if sports’ players or officials have placed bets Sports can also require betting companies to pay a fee Sports benefits

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Approved “sports controlling bodies” have ability to restrict betting on options they consider inappropriate – Such as which player will be carried off the ground on a stretcher first – Enforced through agreements with betting providers Regulator can also ban individual contingencies – But to date has not done so as there has been no need Betting controls

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Yes Eliminates illegal sports betting* as there is no market for it Integrity of sport enhanced – Exchange of information has helped sports identify players and officials betting on their own sport – Suspicious events occurring in the sport itself investigated using betting data – Suspicious bets help sports monitor game play *Note: Apart from illegal online “in-the-run” betting banned by Federal legislation Does the scheme work?

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Complimentary legislation in other Australian States Similar legislative schemes in other countries, particularly those with sophisticated, professional sporting competitions Making cheating at sport for the purpose of financial gain a criminal offence How could it be improved?

2014 IAGR - Philadelphia Speak to me later Website of the Victorian regulator Contact me: More information