Tom Waterhouse has promised to back off. A bit. After months of public pressure, sustained media coverage and government inquiries and intervention, the racing scion has pledged to cut back his advertising.
In an open letter published in today's The Daily Telegraph, Waterhouse wrote: “I am sorry. I have listened to the PM and Australia and have made the call with Channel Nine to dramatically cut back on my advertising from tonight.”
Waterhouse will reduce his advertising with Nine by 20%, the News Limited paper reported on its front page. However, this has not been confirmed by Nine.
In his letter, Waterhouse defended himself as an Australian businessman trying to stem the tide of overseas corporate bookmakers in a competitive market. He wrote: “My online business is still young and striving to grow and so I have needed to advertise heavily. This is the reality of being a privately owned, proudly Australian company – employing around 100 workers – trying to take on some very big foreign players in an intensively competitive market.”
Waterhouse also said he had become the poster child for all those in opposition to the gambling industry because he put his face and name out there. Using his name as his brand also allows him to trade on his family's racing and bookmaking legacy.
The issue of live odds during sports coverage has been an area of contention for many months as Waterhouse struck a deal with Nine to be integrated within the network's NRL coverage which made it appear as if he was part of the commentary team.
Earlier this week, prime minister Julia Gillard announced the government would ban all live odds during sports broadcasts. A joint parliamentary committee into gambling was also intensely critical of the proliferation of gambling advertising during sports broadcasts, pointing out that a vast number of children under 18-years are viewing those programs.
Public outcry has focused around the normalisation of gambling and sports. Even the NRL has come out against Waterhouse's role on Nine, while rival corporate bookmakers have not been shy to criticise his role.
Nine did not comment on whether there had been any renegotiation or whether there was any change to its deal with Tom Waterhouse.
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