Tigers look at buying Blues' gaming venueDaniel Cherny
The Age
17 June 2016Richmond have explored the possibility of purchasing a gaming venue owned by Carlton.
Williamstown's Victoria Inn is one of four pokies facilities owned by the Blues, with the others being Club Laverton, The Manningham Club in Bulleen, and the Royal Oak in Richmond.
The Tigers confirmed they had looked at the possibility of purchasing the Williamstown pub, which contains 60 po-ker machines.
"The club has made some inquiries about the venue but no commercial arrangement has been agreed," a Richmond spokeswoman said.
The Blues declined to comment about a potential sale of the venue.
The Tigers already own one gaming venue – The Wantirna Club – which has 87 po-ker machines.
Both the Blues and Tigers have continued their ownership of po-ker machines despite signing separate three-year sponsorship agreements with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation earlier this year.
By signing the agreements, the clubs committed not to take any money from corporate betting agencies. The Blues had been sponsored in recent years by both Sportingbet and William Hill, while Richmond had been involved with both Sportsbet and Luxbet. Both clubs also signed the Victorian Responsible Gambling Charter, pledging their commitment to protect young people from the pitfalls of gambling. Richmond players and staff underwent education about the risks of problem gambling at a session last month.
The deals were not without controversy. The Blues in particular faced allegations of hypocrisy upon signing the deal with the VRGF, given that they own more po-ker machines (290) than any other Victorian club.
At the time of the announcement, Carlton chief executive Steven Trigg refuted suggestions that it was incongruent for the Blues to turn their back on sports betting while still reaping dividends from po-kies. "To call out the elephant in the room, there's been a perception of Carlton over a long period of time in terms of its venues and it's not incongruent, it's totally congruent to take a responsible gambling position right across the club and we're very pleased to be involved," Trigg said.
The Blues have also faced criticism in recent weeks after it emerged they spent po-kies revenue earmarked for "community benefit" on their Ikon Park base. Hobsons Bay mayor Peter Hemphill – whose municipality includes Club Laverton – was a particularly vocal critic.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale also addressed the supposed conflict when the Tigers signed their VRGF deal in February. "The difference is in the pervasive nature of sports betting in particular," Gale said.
"Firstly, this is about promoting responsible gambling and gambling is a legitimate enterprise whether it's po-ker machines or gambling houses; people make a conscious choice to go into a venue and gamble where the nature of sports betting is that it is pervasive and it is a very broad instrument. As football clubs we have enormous traction in the community to effect change."
Richmond,Carlton, Essendon, Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Hawthorn, Collingwood, North Melbourne and the A-League's Melbourne Victory have all ceased sponsorships with corporate bookmakers, but the Kangaroos are the only one of Victoria's AFL clubs who don't own any po-kie machines.
The Blues' revenue from po-ker machines last year dropped about $880,000 compared to 2014.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-2016-richmond-look-at-purchasing-carlton-gaming-venue-20160616-gpkwki.html
