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Betting
on the AFL a supporter’s game
July
22 2015 Finding No. 6348 Topic: Press Release Country:
Australia
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It’s
no secret that gambling in Australia is generally
on the wane. Over the last decade alone, the proportion
of Aussie adults who placed a bet, bought a scratch
ticket, entered a lottery, played pokies or a casino
table game, or took part in just about any other kind
of gambling (besides the online variety) in an average
12-month period has declined from 74.1% to 57.6%.
However, one group of punters appears to be bucking
this predominantly downward trend: people who bet
on the AFL.
In
the year to March 2005, 1.3% of Australians aged 18+
(or 194,000 people) reported betting on the AFL, either
in person or via the internet, in an average 12 months.
Ten years later, that figure sits at 2.1% (or 390,000
people).
Not
surprisingly, people who support an AFL team are more
than twice as likely as the average Australian to
bet on the sport, with 5.0% having at least one flutter
on a match in the 12 months to March 2015. But that’s
nothing compared to paid-up members of AFL clubs,
13.4% of whom bet on AFL — suggesting that the
stronger a supporter’s involvement, the higher
the likelihood of betting on matches.
Betting
on the footy: participation by AFL involvement
Source:
Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2014 –
March 2015 (n=15,289).
Of
the League’s 18 teams, Melbourne Demons supporters
are the most likely to take a punt on AFL (10.1% doing
so in an average 12 months), ahead of North Melbourne
Kangaroos (8.4%) and Fremantle Dockers supporters
(7.9%).
The
only teams whose supporters come in below the national
average for betting on AFL are the Gold Coast Suns
and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Angela
Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research,
says:
“Betting
on the AFL comprises a very small proportion of Australians’
overall gambling participation, but unlike most other
forms of gambling, it has gained popularity over the
past decade.
“While
Victorians tend to be less likely than residents of
other states to gamble in general, they are most likely
to bet on AFL. Considering Victoria is Australia’s
AFL heartland, this is hardly a surprise.
“But
the above-average participation in AFL-betting among
Melbourne Demons fans is intriguing. With the Demons
finishing second last in 2014, and currently hovering
around the lower rungs of the League ladder, could
it be that their supporters are betting against them,
determined to snatch some kind of advantage from the
jaws of defeat?
“Also
noteworthy is the fact that people from the affluent
AB and C socioeconomic quintiles are more likely to
have a flutter on the footy than those belonging to
the lower, less well-off quintiles. This contrasts
with the usual pattern for gambling, whereby people
from the lower quintiles have a higher participation
rate than their wealthier counterparts.”
For
comments or more information please contact:
Vaishali Nagaratnam
Office: (+61) (03) 9224 5309
Vaishali.Nagaratnam@roymorgan.com
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