3 ways to kick your gambling habit this footy season

When it comes to footy, Australians love a punt – of both the kicking and betting varieties. The thing is though, one is great fun, the other can cost you thousands of dollars a year. 

With the AFL and NRL footy seasons kicking off in March, we thought now was a great time to address that little problem that can creep up on us this time each year: gambling.

Did you know the average Australian loses $990 each year – no other country in the world gambles away more money per capita – and 75% of Australian adults gamble each year.

That’s a decent lump of money that could go towards a mortgage repayment, overseas flights, or paying off a credit card bill.

So rather than hand over your hard earned cash to sports betting companies on a weekly basis, here are three ways you can still enjoy each match without gambling on the result, first try scorer, whether it’ll rain, etc, etc, etc…

The 100 Day Challenge

Up for a camping trip to explore the great outdoors? Time for a clothing cull? Is the car overdue for a service?

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation recently launched the 100 Day Challenge, which is a list of 100 different yet very manageable activities designed to help you reclaim your life and resist the urge to gamble on footy.

The activities have been categorised into six groups, including: wellness, solitary, practical, physical, creative and social, and are available in web and app based formats.

Since its launch last year, more than 4000 people have signed up for the challenge, many of whom support each other through a strong online community.

Fantasy Footy

Fantasy Football is huge in the US. And in recent years it’s been gaining popularity here in Australia, too.

The general gist of it is that you act as a coach and select players who you think will perform best each week. Each round you can trade a number of players in and out.

The beauty of Fantasy Footy is that usually you will have at least one player from your selected side playing in each match, so there’s always a vested interest.

You can also set up your own comp to battle against your family, friends and colleagues at any of the below sites, which also offer prizes.

AFL: AFL Fantasy (official AFL site), SuperCoach (NewsCorp).

NRL: NRL Fantasy (official NRL site), SuperCoach (NewsCorp).

Tipping comp

Those who are more interested in team performances, rather than individual performances, may be better suited to a tipping comp.

Tipping comps are also more inclusive for groups with more casual fans (diehard fans tend to dominate the Fantasy comps), because if in doubt you can always default to backing the higher team on the ladder!

If you want to set up a comp for your work, keep an eye out in newspapers in the coming weeks for a big foldout tipping table – it’s always great to have an actual leaderboard on hand to point to when bragging.

Otherwise there are the online options below, which also offer prizes.

AFL: AFL Tipping (official AFL site).

NRL: NRL Tipping (official NRL site).

Final word

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the weekend footy without having to stake a chunk of money on it.

Also, it’s never fun to brag about how much money you won (or most likely lost) betting on a match. Beating your friends and family in a tipping comp though? You’ll have fun milking that for the entire off-season!

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.