Every AFL and NRL club now carries an alcohol sponsor in the 2026 season, according to a new report from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE). The "State of Play" report also found every NRL club and five AFL clubs are sponsored by gambling companies, with betting money flowing deeper into both codes than a year ago (ABC News).

The dollars are large. FARE reported NRL deals with sports betting companies amount to roughly $50 million per year, while AFL deals sit between $30 million and $40 million. Sportsbet alone — the country's biggest corporate bookmaker — pays about $10 million a year to the NRL and between $8 million and $10 million to the AFL (ABC News).

On the field, seven NRL clubs wore gambling branding on their playing jerseys in 2026, one more than last season. No AFL club has a gambling sponsor on its jumper this year. But four AFL clubs run digital gambling advertising, and four show betting ads on stadium screens during matches. For alcohol, the saturation is total: every AFL club advertises booze brands at stadiums and across digital channels, and five NRL clubs carry alcohol logos on their guernseys (ABC News).

The women's game is not immune. FARE found nine confirmed alcohol sponsorships across AFLW teams and four across NRLW teams. Three AFLW clubs and seven NRLW clubs have gambling sponsors in 2026 (ABC News).

Broadcasters are leaning in. FARE's research found the volume of alcohol and betting ads during NRL and AFL broadcasts grew in 2026, with both Seven and Nine increasing their number of sponsors. Seven added two more alcohol sponsors to its AFL coverage for the year, having already carried BWS and Lion in 2025 (SMH). The GWS Giants took on their first gambling sponsor this season, per The Daily Aus (The Daily Aus).

Australian TV rules ban alcohol ads until after 8:30pm, when children's viewing hours end. But a long-standing exemption lets sporting matches air booze advertising at any time. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is reviewing that exemption and is due to hand down a decision within weeks (ABC News).

FARE chief executive Ayla Chorley said the report showed alcohol ads "saturate every part" of the sports and called on ACMA to act. FARE and community organisations have been pushing both codes to phase out alcohol and gambling advertising since at least 2025 (FARE).

The political pressure is mounting in parallel. The Albanese government's proposed gambling reform would limit TV betting ads to three per hour between 6pm and 8:30pm, restrict radio ads during school drop-off and pick-up, and ban logos on jerseys and in-stadium promotions. But the Coalition, the Greens, crossbenchers and some Labor MPs want stronger measures, with a Senate inquiry hearing those calls in August 2026. Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for all 31 recommendations of the Murphy Review, which includes a full ban on gambling advertising (ABC News).

Not every code has gone this way. Baseball Australia cut alcohol advertising and sponsorship from its national and junior levels back in 2019 (ABC News). That stands as the exception. In the AFL and NRL, the money and the branding keep growing.