The country’s communications regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has concluded that public broadcaster SBS failed to comply with gambling advertising rules when a Crown advert appeared during their live Tour de France commentary in July 2025.
In a finding published yesterday afternoon, ACMA determined that the advertisement appeared during a prohibited time period under broadcast rules for live sport broadcasts. “Gambling advertisements may only be scheduled during a live sporting event during and between scheduled or unscheduled breaks provided that this occurs between 8:30pm and 5am,” according to the ACMA Code of Practice – Commercial Television Industry Code. SBS is bound by equivalent obligations under its own Code of Practice.
At first glance, the Crown advertisement appeared to focus on the venue’s dining, accommodation, and entertainment offerings — the kind of content that would ordinarily qualify for a “dining or entertainment” exemption, which allows ads promoting non-gambling facilities at gambling venues. The problem, regulators found, was a single phrase: “premier casino resort.”
ACMA concluded that this tagline shifted the advertisement beyond hospitality promotion and into the territory of gambling advertising, stripping it of exemption eligibility. The code is explicit that the dining or entertainment exception does not apply if any portion of an advertisement also promotes gambling activities.
Authority Member Carolyn Lidgerwood identified the wording as the deciding factor, noting that while the commercial broadly highlighted Crown’s non-gambling offerings, the tagline crossed a clear line.
Lidgerwood said:
The ‘dining or entertainment exception’ under the Code does not apply if any part of the advertisement draws attention to gambling in a manner calculated to directly promote such gambling activities.
The ruling is significant beyond this individual case, it marks the first time ACMA has formally examined how the dining or entertainment exception applies, providing broadcasters and advertisers with clearer guidance on where the boundary lies.
The finding was used as a wider platform by ACMA to warn advertisers of other services: Even advertisements mainly targeting the hospitality sector require careful consideration to ensure that their advertising content doesn’t encourage gambling.
SBS disagreed with ACMA’s interpretation, but told the watchdog that “takes seriously all its compliance obligations, and it remains committed to complying with the ACMA’s codes.”
