Gambling Logos Banned on Sports Jerseys — But the Clock Runs Until 2032
The Albanese government has passed laws banning gambling company logos from sports jerseys, but existing sponsorship deals can stay on shirts until as late as 2032 under a five-year transition period. The Guardian
The ban is part of a wider package announced earlier this year that cuts gambling advertising across television, radio, online platforms and at matches themselves — including stadium signage and the uniforms of players and match officials. The reforms also include a cap on television gambling ads. Reuters 9 News Melbourne Labor MP Tracey Roberts
Communications minister Anika Wells told parliament that one unnamed sports club has a jersey sponsorship with a wagering company that runs until 2031. Wells stressed that ending jersey deals early would be a commercial decision for clubs, not something for government to dictate. The Guardian
Seven NRL clubs currently carry wagering or lottery company logos on their jerseys, with several of those contracts running until at least the end of the 2028 season. The Brisbane Broncos have a deal with The Star casino running to the end of next season and are in discussions about the casino's placement on the 2027 shirt. The Guardian
The transition rules — what the government calls "grandfathering," meaning existing contracts are allowed to run their course rather than being cut short — have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Crossbench senator David Pocock said the five-year window was too long and called on clubs to end jersey sponsorships at the earliest opportunity. Liberal MP Andrew Wallace crossed the floor to vote against the bill, arguing the transition period was too generous. Wallace had pushed his own party room to accept a two-year deadline. The Guardian
Public health expert Samantha Thomas said the five-year window made it difficult to take the government seriously when it claims to be trying to break the link between gambling and sport. Martin Thomas of the Alliance for Gambling Reform said the grandfathering provisions showed how little difference the watered-down reforms would make. The Guardian
The broader context here is the gap between the government's framing and what the policy actually does in practice. Labor has marketed this package as the strongest action yet on gambling harm. That phrase is doing a lot of work. A ban that lets logos stay on jerseys for up to seven years after the legislation passes is a ban in name only for the duration of that window. Clubs with deals expiring in 2028 or 2031 face no immediate pressure to renegotiate, and the government has explicitly handed the onus back to the clubs by framing early exits as a commercial matter.
The reform landscape matters too. The original push for a phase-out of online gambling advertising came from a June 2023 recommendation that Australia phase out online gambling advertising within three years, with the ban phased in over that period. Reuters Had that timeline been adopted, the phase-out would already be complete. Instead, the government landed on a TV ad cap rather than the full advertising ban the 2023 review envisaged, paired with a jersey-logo ban that takes years to bite.
There is also the question of what counts as "gambling" under the reforms. A January 2026 government review into the regulation of online keno (a lottery-style game where players pick numbers and hope they match drawn results) and foreign-matched lotteries noted that four US states — Texas, Indiana, Virginia, and Wisconsin — have banned foreign-matched lottery services outright. Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts That review sits within the same portfolio Wells now oversees, and the NRL's jersey landscape includes lottery branding among the wagering logos covered by the ban.
Wallace's floor crossing is worth noting for the precedent it sets within the Coalition. A Liberal MP voting against his own side's position on a gambling bill — because he thought it too weak, not too strong — is an inversion of the usual pattern on social reform legislation. Pocock and Wallace arriving at the same complaint from opposite benches, that five years is too long, puts the government's framing under genuine crossbench pressure.
The clubs, for their part, have a commercial incentive to sit tight. The Broncos' ongoing discussions with The Star about 2027 suggest at least some clubs are still negotiating fresh deals rather than winding them down. Until the transition window closes or public pressure forces an earlier exit, the jerseys will look much the same as they do now.
