AFL orders Sportsbet to remove AI videos featuring players without consent
The AFL has ordered its official gambling partner Sportsbet to cease using AI-generated content featuring players without their consent. The company had created videos depicting high-profile athletes delivering lines from films, television shows and speeches—such as Lachie Neale reciting a Snoop Dogg acceptance speech or Will Ashcroft screaming a line from Ozark—designed to boost engagement on social media. This matters because new federal legislation banning athletes from appearing in gambling advertisements takes effect next year, and the practice breaches the collective bargaining agreement between players and the league.
Sportsbet has already removed the videos from its Instagram page after being contacted by the Guardian. The AFL Players' Association raised formal concerns late last week, arguing that AI-generated player imagery is not permitted without approval. The 2023-2027 collective bargaining agreement allows Sportsbet to use player images and footage under certain circumstances, but makes no provisions for AI-generated content. The AFL and Sportsbet are now working together on the evolving use of AI in promotional material, whilst independent senator David Pocock has called for tougher regulation against deepfakes and the use of athlete likenesses without consent to promote gambling.
- AFL orders Sportsbet to stop using AI videos of players without permission.
- Videos showed athletes saying fabricated quotes from films and speeches.
- New gambling laws banning athletes in ads take effect next year.
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Sportsbet is the AFL’s official gambling partner, and its agreement with the league allows some use of players’ images and footage. The AFL Players’ Association represents players in discussions with the league and raised concerns about AI-made videos using their likenesses without approval.
The issue sits alongside a federal law due to take effect next year that will ban athletes from appearing in gambling advertisements. The AFL’s collective bargaining agreement with players runs from 2023 to 2027, but does not set out rules for AI-generated promotional content.
The dispute matters because it raises questions about consent and how existing agreements apply when AI is used to make promotional material. Independent senator David Pocock has also called for stronger rules on deepfakes and the use of athletes’ likenesses to promote gambling.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The AFL and players can argue that using recognisable athletes’ likenesses in gambling promotions without consent risks misleading audiences and undermines players’ control over their image. The existing agreement does not cover AI-generated material, and removing the videos respects that boundary while the league and Sportsbet clarify acceptable practice ahead of new restrictions.
The case against
Sportsbet could argue that the videos were humorous, clearly artificial social media content intended to attract engagement, rather than conventional gambling advertisements featuring players. It may also contend that rules written before generative AI became widespread need clarification, so any limits should be developed with the league and account for legitimate promotional uses as well as consent.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “AFL tells Sportsbet to stop using players in AI generated content”.