A try-scoring celebration promotion backed by the NRL’s wagering partner has been shelved after pushback from clubs.
Sportsbet’s Try July has taken place for the past six years in conjunction with the Rugby League Players Association and the NRL, raising nearly $2 million for causes including past players who have suffered catastrophic injuries and disaster recovery in NSW, Queensland and the Pacific.
But in a development that removes one visible link between gambling and the game’s on-field stars, it has been scrapped this year.
Sources with knowledge of the decision say it is not connected to last week’s unveiling of the Albanese government’s new restrictions on gambling advertising.
Instead, the call was made by Sportsbet because Try July was increasingly conflicting with the stance of teams that have entered into anti-gambling partnerships and with clubs that have ties with rival wagering providers.
Canterbury and South Sydney have aligned with Reclaim the Game, a NSW government initiative aimed at reducing betting sponsorships and advertising in sport.
According to sources, they have preferred their players not to participate in Try July, as have some clubs that have jersey sponsorships or corporate partnerships with online bookmakers other than Sportsbet, regarding it as a commercial conflict.
The campaign has been a marketing initiative for the betting giant in which it donated $5000 for every creative try celebration in the NRL and NRLW during July, with funds distributed to a range of causes, including to assist former players who suffered life-changing injuries.
Among them were former Roosters forward Mose Masoe, who sustained a serious spinal injury while playing in the English Super League in 2020, former Cronulla winger Nathan Stapleton, who was rendered a quadriplegic playing rugby union in country NSW, and St George Illawarra recruitment manager and ex-Parramatta and Warriors coach Daniel Anderson, who was left in a wheelchair after a bodysurfing accident in 2022.
Money was also raised for former NRLW player Toni Hunt after a stage-four cancer diagnosis, and has been directed towards NSW and Queensland flood appeals and Tonga’s recovery from a tsunami in 2022.
Try July’s demise was met with disappointment at the players’ association, whose player hardship fund was a beneficiary last year.
Sources said RLPA chief executive Clint Newton had asked club chiefs during a recent teleconference call how the game could replace the funds it had generated.
The NRL, Sportsbet and the RLPA declined to comment.
The NRL’s deal with Sportsbet is worth an estimated $15 million a year and it collects more than $50 million a year on top of that in product fees from gambling on the competition in Australia.
While that flows down to the clubs, they have been dialling back their reliance on betting sponsorships in anticipation of federal government reform on gambling advertising, which was announced last week by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Gambling sponsorships on jerseys and in stadiums will be banned under the changes, while the government will cap the number of TV advertisements for betting companies at three an hour between 6am and 8.30pm, with a total blackout during live sport broadcasts in those hours.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.