New gambling bill to affect GAA club lotteries and other sporting fundraisers

Win a House fundraiser 

GAA club lotteries, county draws and other fundraising activities will have to be abide by the 9pm watershed as outlined in the Government’s gambling bill.

The association’s management committee has been made aware of the ramifications of the proposed legislation. Promotion of such initiatives will not be permitted online before that time and only in a designated overnight eight-and-a-half-hour period.

The bill states: “A person shall not knowingly advertise, or cause another person to advertise, a relevant gambling activity on television, radio or an on-demand audio-visual media service between the hours of 5.30am and 9.00pm.” 

It means also that “Win A House” or “Win A Car” draws and prediction competitions such as “Last Man Standing” will have to adhere to the restrictions aimed at curbing the proliferation of gambling advertising when children and adolescents are using media.

Currently, any GAA draws that involve cash require a licence and the weekly club lotto is covered by an annual certificate. However, the licence area is also set to be overhauled. It is proposed that permission will not be required for charitable or philanthropic causes where the total value of the winnings does not exceed €2,000, the minimum payment to participate does not exceed €5, and the number of tickets is limited to 1,500.

For a charitable or philanthropic purpose lottery gambling licence, the lottery can’t exceed €30,000 per week or €3,000 per game. For a once-off activity, the licence will allow nothing above €360,000. There is no maximum entry fee for either a regular lottery or one-off.

In 2018, the GAA voted to ban gambling companies’ advertising on teams when 98% of Congress delegates backed the motion. The gambling bill is to prohibit sponsorship of an event or any part of one where the majority of persons are children, or of an organisation, club or team in which children are members.

The GAA rulebook states “a player, a team, a member of a team management or a match official involved in a game is strictly prohibited from betting on the outcome of any aspect of the Game concerned.” Penalty for such is considered to be misconduct discrediting the association.

Several inter-county players have spoken of their gambling addiction in recent years. Cavan’s Seánie Johnston, Stefan Campbell of Armagh, Kilkenny’s Richie Power, Kerry’s Martin Stackpole and Tyrone midfielder Conn Fitzpatrick are among those who have opened up about their difficulties. In 2019, an ESRI report commissioned by the GAA and Gaelic Players Association revealed almost 80% of players were gambling daily or weekly.

The GPA has called for gambling ads to be banned during the live broadcasting of games.