South Australian football clubs are not impressed with the local government’s pokie reform plans. This year, local politicians decided to classify pokie clubs into major and minor categories, with different rules and regulations applying to each. The SANFL believes that the reforms will lead to larger pokie operators taking over the market, taking funding away from smaller clubs.
Clubs, pubs and hotels with 60 or more pokies will be classified as ‘major’ pokie venues. So, clubs that wish to fall into this category have the opportunity to purchase more games. Representations from the SANFL believe that this will lead large operators like Woolworths and Coles to buy up games from smaller venues. This means less funding for the SANFL, because the smaller, grassroots clubs will earn less gambling revenue.
"We have had to cut and prune expenses in many, many areas without trying to affect our core business of football and being a representative of the community," says Kris Grant, chief executive of Central District. "If this was to come in, we can see that we would have a further decline”. Grant believes that the next area of the SANFL that will receive funding cuts are the development programs.
These are incredibly beneficial to the local community, because they groom young people to become football players. The individuals involved in these programs obtain many benefits, including improved health and better social lives. Without development programs, many youths would lose out. Clubs SA president Cameron Taylor supports these claims. He also believes that many smaller football clubs rely on pokie funding.
Without it, they would not be able to survive – and the reforms would cause their demise. The South Australian government has quite a lot of work to do if it wants to implement these new reforms. As far as we can tell, very few individuals are on board and they will need convincing that this is the best course of action.
About the Author
