By Ashleigh Matosevic
Sports Journalist
On a screen, a National Premier League Women’s (NPLW) game is underway at a suburban ground in Melbourne’s west. It looks like a standard live score update: goals, substitutions and the clock ticking over in real time.
But the data is not being viewed from inside the clubhouse, or by a supporter attending the ground. Instead, it’s being streamed on SportsPesa alongside the other matches of the current NPLW round.
A betting platform with East African origins, SportsPesa is one of several international operators listing odds for NPLW matches. Other websites like 1xBet also lists NPLW odds, but are geo-blocked in Australia as it’s not licensed locally.
Victorian State League Women’s matches and NPL Youth matches can also be found on these sites, along with the presence of live in-game statistics.
Essendon Royals Soccer Club is an NPLW club whose matches feature on these platforms. However, the club’s Technical Director of Junior Girls Vaughan Coveny says he was not aware of these betting platforms.
“I’m really surprised by it, I’m alarmed by it to be honest,” Coveny tells The Westsider.
The concern for players and clubs at local level is not just that these betting markets exist, but whether they have the same education, oversight and integrity protections available in the elite level.
Coveny says that players, coaches and parents wouldn’t be aware of the betting listings adding that betting and integrity issues aren’t discussed at this level.
“It’s good that I’m aware of it. We can make our coaches and players aware of it as well,” he says.
“We’re talking fifth tier or even youth development with kids. There’s kids playing, and teams that are like 15, 16 years old. I’m a bit taken back by it.”
However, the appearance of NPL odds on overseas betting platforms isn’t a new phenomenon, with mainstream media outlets previously reporting on international betting interest in the men’s football.
A 2021 investigation by The Age revealed evidence of ‘data scouts’ operating at suburban Melbourne grounds, using headsets and mobile phones to log live match events.
The ABC published a story in 2023, which found that Football Australia “takes a cut from bets placed on games at all levels in the country, from international blockbusters to amateur suburban club competitions.” And not just soccer. It also highlights how betting markets rely on livestreams of lower-tier competitions to track cricket games in real time.
But with women’s sports expanding into betting markets, several clubs are unaware that their lower-tier competitions are attracting betting interest.
Spring Hills Football Club are among the NPLW teams listed on the platforms. A spokesperson for the Caroline Springs-based side says that the club was “not aware” of any “international betting involving” their team.
“This is the first time that someone has been made aware of this,” they say.
Swinburne University sports management lecturer Dr Paul Bowell suggests the disconnect between clubs and broader reporting on the issue may stem from the fact that it’s “an overseas market”. He says if the betting markets were being “framed in Australian-owned” betting sites, clubs would likely take more immediate action.
The appearance of NPLW betting odds and other lower-tier competitions in betting markets is not a surprise to Dr Bowell who says that betting has become “quite pervasive” in all forms of sport.
“I think that’s sort of a sign that there’s a growing visibility around women’s sport,” Dr Bowell says.
“Women’s sports have become much more interlinked with gambling through big high-profile events like the World Cup and March Madness basketball, and even with the AFLW and cricket.”
The National Integrity Framework (NIF), which is overseen by Sports Integrity Australia, sets out a range of policies for sport organisations and their participants. Dr Bowell says that Football Australia will have “parts of its framework aligned with the NIF”, but says its effectiveness is “really dependent on the sport” as some codes align more closely with the framework than others.
“I think it’s really about how these frameworks trickle down across levels. In other research I’ve done around community sport and issues like discrimination, the policies tend not to filter their way down to lower levels,” he says.
“ I think that there are sufficient policies around integrity in sport around the NIF and Sports Integrity Australia. But how they’re being operationalised on the ground at lower levels would be mixed and it is something I think national sporting organisations need to look at more.”
Football Victoria says it is aware of international betting markets operating at NPL level through authorised data collection arrangements, and that it maintains “continuous vigilance” in monitoring integrity risks across the game.
Coveny believes there is a need for “more legislation” to minimise betting, especially at the lower levels of sports.
Like Coveny, Dr Bowell says it’s “concerning” that women’s sports is becoming more visible to betting markets without the same level of attention in areas such as media coverage and athlete protections.
“From my experience with women’s sport, especially when you’re talking about the women’s NPL level and even the A-League and AFLW level, there are fewer resources made available, especially around off-field support,” he says.
He says “education around integrity” and “having time to understand what you can and can’t do when it comes to speaking to bookmakers” are key issues, adding that women’s sports may likely “be lacking in that” due to players not having full-time contracts.
He also says the first step for football at all levels is an “acknowledgement” that these betting markets exist, adding that clearer responsibility is needed at NPL level or through Football Australia to educate players on integrity and gambling boundaries.
“I think we need to consider broader things if this trend continues and there’s more widespread gambling on women’s sports. We need to think of subsidiary issues like harassment and abuse that women athletes face, especially online. It’s already quite prevalent around misogynistic and online harassment, and if we add in another example like betting to that, that’s something sporting organisations have to look at as well.”
While questions remain about the reach of awareness and oversight beyond elite competitions, Vaughan Coveny is already considering how the Essendon Royals Soccer Club can respond to the growing exposure of lower-tier football to betting markets.
“We’re just a small club in the North-western suburbs. But the governing body, whether it’s Football Victoria or Football Australia, I believe that they should be looking into this further,’” he says.
“We as a club take it very seriously and I would be very interested in hearing what Football Victoria has to say. We would be very happy to work with them or any other club to educate players, parents and the club in general about betting sites.”
