ACMA Warns AFL Players Over Illegal Gambling Promotions

ACMA has a message for AFL players and anyone else with a big social media following: push unlicensed gambling sites and you're breaking the law. The regulator says it's watching, too.

Mitch Robinson and Rhys Mathieson found out the hard way. The Australian Communications and Media Authority contacted both former AFL men over their ties to Vegastars, an online gambling operator that holds no licence to operate in Australia. Robinson and Mathieson accepted responsibility, dropped the brand and stripped every bit of promotional material from their channels. Each copped a formal warning.

The mechanics matter. Casino-style gambling online is banned outright in Australia, and an operator without a local licence can't legally serve residents. Influencers who promote those services fall under the same rules, even if all they did was share a referral link. And the money is real: gambling platforms pay celebrities and high-reach accounts for posts and referral traffic.

Carolyn Lidgerwood, an ACMA member, didn't mince words. "Illegal gambling services can cause significant financial harm to individuals and families, and influencers need to be aware that promoting these services is against the law," she said. Her view of who carries the obligation? Anyone with a public platform. Household name or merely a popular account, same duty under current gaming laws.

So far enforcement has meant warnings, not penalties. Fines are the next step for anyone who ignores them. ACMA has signalled it will keep chasing current and former athletes who trade on their profiles after retirement. That's a live commercial risk for players building media careers post-football. One sponsored post for an offshore brand can land a regulatory letter with your name on it.

For affiliates, the read is straightforward. Checking an operator's licensing isn't optional paperwork. If the brand can't legally take Australian players, the promotion itself is the breach, and the influencer is the easy target.

New advertising rules covering social media influencers and gambling take effect on 1 January 2027. Until then, ACMA is working with the law as it stands, and those formal warnings to Robinson and Mathieson set the benchmark for how it intends to handle non-compliance. Anyone still carrying promotions for unlicensed operators has a clear window to pull them down.