Betting companies banned from advertising on signage and the playing uniform of teams in the National Rugby League Women's Premiership were "given the nod to wager on its matches, albeit with a reduced offering," according to Adam Pengilly of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Just months after the NRL told Australia's biggest bookmakers they would be "prohibited" from displaying their logos on the jerseys of the four teams to "provide a cleanskin image," wagering companies have started taking bets on the overall winner. It is part of a "watered down betting offering" for the four-week competition. All four teams in the "historic" NRLW -- the Sydney Roosters, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors -- were told after their successful license applications that they could not "sign bookmakers to above-the-line sponsorships." The Roosters (Steggles) and Dragons (St. George Bank) will carry their traditional front-of-jersey sponsors in the "same prominent position as their men's counterparts." But the Broncos (National Storage) and Warriors (Flight Centre) have "separate backers to their men's teams in the prime advertising space." As part of the NRL's "family friendly push" for its women's league, the logo of the code's official betting partner, Sportsbet, is not displayed on any specific women's premiership pages on NRL.com (SMH, 9/6).
'FAILING ADDICTS': THE DRUM's John Glenday reported U.K. National Health Society CEO Simon Stevens spoke out against overseas gambling companies which sponsor Premier League clubs, "accusing the firms of shirking their responsibilities in regard to problem gamblers." Stevens added that eight of nine clubs sponsored by a foreign betting firm have "failed to make mandatory donations to a registered charity helping addicts" (THE DRUM, 9/6).
