Sunday's Spherical 18 NRL encounter between the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs was a notable one, and never only for Latrell Mitchell's match-winning heroics within the second half.
The match at Sydney's Accor Stadium was performed within the full absence of any betting ads, that are often unavoidable.
Each side had sworn off betting sponsorship and promoting earlier this 12 months after partnering with GambleAware's Reclaim the Recreation initiative.
The NSW authorities program encourages golf equipment to reject betting advertisements in an try and problem the normalisation of wagering in sport.
"The NRL fan base is big and playing promoting is all over the place, together with at sporting video games and on TV, which implies for those who're a supporter you often cannot keep away from seeing it," Workplace of Accountable Playing director Natalie Wright stated.
"On Sunday, followers and households obtained again to what the sport is about – with out letting a guess take them away from the match.
"It is encouraging to see an NRL match with two groups who each stepped as much as say no to sports activities betting promoting and we're positive the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs followers appreciated the ambiance."
"It's a nice spectacle for followers, gamers and workers to take pleasure in sport in its purest type, with none distractions or the temptation to gamble," Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton stated.
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"It was pleasing to see Sunday's conflict between two of the sport's proudest golf equipment happening with out the presence of sports activities betting promoting."
Warburton's South Sydney counterpart, Blake Solly, additionally welcomed the wagering advertisements blackout, saying his membership was proud to help the push to "impact cultural change round sports activities betting promoting".
Whereas the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs are the primary two NRL golf equipment to companion with Reclaim the Recreation, this system has additionally teamed up with sides from different codes, together with AFL's Sydney Swans, soccer's Western Sydney Wanderers, and cricket's Sydney Thunder.