Footy finals season is here, and with it brings the community and comradery of Australian sport but also the grim reality of codes deeply intertwined with alcohol advertising.
This weekend’s NRL grand final is set to be flooded with alcohol ads – whether watching at home, or in the stadium. Alcohol saturates Australian sport, despite a wealth of evidence showing its detrimental effects on the community, and widespread sentiment that the public has had enough.
Our team at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education analysed new data from Nielsen, which found during the 2025 AFL Grand Final, alcohol ads began playing before 8am, exposing thousands of children and compounding harmful associations between alcohol and sport.That day, there was 134 minutes of alcohol ads aired across the Channel 7 Network alongside AFL programming.
Additionally, a recent report laid bare just how engrained harmful products are in Australia’s biggest sporting codes. It found that every single AFL and NRL club is sponsored by an alcohol company, including advertising at stadiums during matches and promotion on digital channels.
NRL finalists the Newcastle Knights and Sydney Roosters each have two alcohol sponsors with deals that include promotions on the teams’ digital channels. The Knights deal also includes uniform branding.
Meanwhile AFL grand finalists the Brisbane Lions and their opponents Fremantle Dockers, had match-day promotions for their alcohol sponsorships plus deals to advertise their products on the teams social and digital platforms.
The number of alcohol sponsors of AFL and NRL free-to-air broadcasting partnerships also increased from 2025 to 2026, under new deals with Seven and Nine.
Thousands of children tuning in shouldn’t be exposed to a harmful and addictive product, and for anyone trying to cut back on alcohol, incessant advertising makes this so much harder.
Alcohol isn’t an ordinary product. It is a Group 1 carcinogen and is linked to more than 200 diseases, injuries and health conditions.
It causes significant harm across the country and is involved in up to half of all domestic, family and sexual violence reports to police. On nights of major sporting events, rates of domestic violence surge. Victoria Police report an up to 20 per cent increase during the AFL Grand Final.
Advertising a harmful and addictive product should not be a mainstay of our beloved sporting culture.
Research shows that children exposed to alcohol advertising are more likely to start drinking earlier and drink at higher-risk levels later in life. Expert reviews have recommended addressing alcohol advertising to reduce domestic and family violence.
For decades, the alcohol industry has deliberately embedded its brands within sport, creating powerful associations between drinking and the nation’s biggest codes.
Parents shouldn’t need to be ready to change the channel before another alcohol ad comes on or sit in a stadium where alcohol is entirely unavoidable, just to watch their kids’ favourite team play.
Earlier this month a federal government inquiry highlighted the extent of harm from alcohol across Australia.
The Federal Inquiry into the health impacts of alcohol and drugs in Australia explicitly noted that the current system of “self-regulation cannot adequately safeguard children, adolescents or young people” and recommended a new mandatory alcohol advertising and marketing regulatory framework.
The majority of the community agree. Four in five Australians want to see less advertising for gambling, alcohol and junk food. Three in four want to see fewer alcohol ads on television, and the same number believe alcohol ads should not be shown on TV during sport when children are watching.
At the moment, the industries that profit from alcohol are largely left to determine where, how and when they can advertise. That responsibility must sit with governments and independent regulators, and there is a key opportunity for change right now.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is reviewing the rules around alcohol ads on television – including during sport.
Through its review, ACMA can create what’s called a ‘program standard’, which would be a set of rules for alcohol ads developed entirely by the regulator. It would replace the existing system which allows the commercial TV industry to write its own advertising rules.
The current industry-led system has resulted in a loophole allowing alcohol ads on live TV during sports broadcasts when they would otherwise be prohibited. A program standard would mean ACMA, an independent body, is creating the rules for alcohol ads, not companies that profit from them, ensuring community health and wellbeing can be prioritised.
ACMA has an opportunity to take regulation back into its hands and align with the federal inquiry’s recommendation to move towards a mandatory, government-led system to regulate advertising. Parents have had enough of shielding their children from harmful ads, people living with alcohol dependence or trying to cut back are fed up with alcohol’s close association with sport.
The solutions are available. The community agrees. We need governments that create laws and policies with our health and wellbeing at the centre.