Baseball Australia ‘steps up to plate’ with booze advertising ban

Baseball’s governing body in Australia has moved to scrap alcohol advertising in junior competitions and at national representative level.

But the decision won’t extend to Australian Baseball League teams competing in the professional domestic competition.

Baseball Australia revealed today it had rejected a sponsorship deal with an international alcohol brand, instead becoming the first sporting code in this country to partner with national campaign, End Alcohol Advertising in Sport.

The campaign will be promoted during little league games, on BA’s digital and media platforms and distributed to clubs throughout the country.

BA chief executive Cam Vale said the move reflected community attitudes and set the path for other codes to follow.

“Our junior players and the kids and families who support baseball in Australia are the future of our code,” he said.

“They are tomorrow’s players, superstars and fans of our sport, and in partnering with End Alcohol Advertising in Sport, we aspire to create a healthier sporting environment for them all to thrive.”

But the move won’t “extend to, or impact, the operations of the eight independently owned and operated” teams competing in the ABL.

Six of the competition’s sides are sponsored by alcohol brands, reports the ABC.

“The individual teams are all privately owned, so they’re independent of [BA] when it comes to commercial arrangements,” Mr Vale said.

“So it’s their choice to choose the sponsors that they agree to have on board.”

While the new arrangement won’t directly impact the Perth Heat, which has a partnership with Healthway and promotes the “Alcohol.Think Again” education campaign, a spokesman said it was a positive move.

The push to have sport become an alcohol-free advertisement zone isn’t new.

Just last year a host of sporting personalities teamed up to spread the message that sport and alcohol advertising should not mix.

The bid to ban alcohol advertising across all codes came as a Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) study found children were exposed to more than three alcohol ads during every minute of the recent NRL grand final.

Former Perth Wildcats boss Nick Marvin has also previously supported a new report that calls for an end to alcohol sponsorship of sport and for alcohol advertising during sport to be regulated.

End Alcohol Advertising in Sport spokesman and FARE chief executive Michael Thorn said BA had “shown leadership that is sadly lacking in too many of our national sporting codes”.

“Sport can and should be a powerful force for good,” he said.

“Rather than simply condemning player transgressions, sporting codes must show leadership, and that starts with walking away from alcohol advertising dollars, as BA is doing.”