Former NRL player Luke Bateman said gambling company employees offered him illicit drugs to encourage continued gambling activity [1].
The testimony highlights potential predatory practices within the gambling industry, suggesting that some firms may use illegal incentives to maintain high-spending clients.
Bateman provided this account Monday during a parliamentary inquiry in Australia [1]. He said that staff members from gambling companies offered him cocaine and alcohol [2, 3]. According to Bateman, these offers were intended to build a personal relationship with him as a high-spend punter [1, 3].
This strategy of cultivating loyalty through the provision of controlled substances is presented as a method to ensure the client remains engaged with the betting platform [1]. The allegations suggest a systemic effort to blur the lines between professional service and personal entanglement to maximize profit [3].
Bateman's testimony has prompted calls for tighter industry restrictions to protect vulnerable individuals from such practices [1]. The inquiry is examining how gambling companies interact with their most active users and whether current regulations are sufficient to prevent the exploitation of addicts [1].
While the gambling industry has faced scrutiny over its marketing and addiction protocols, the allegation of supplying drugs represents a more severe level of misconduct [2]. The parliamentary body is now reviewing the evidence to determine if further legislative action is required to curb these behaviors [1].
“Gambling company employees allegedly offered him illicit drugs to build a relationship and keep him gambling.”
These allegations suggest that some gambling operators may move beyond psychological manipulation into criminal activity to retain high-value customers. If proven, this indicates a failure of internal compliance and a need for more aggressive regulatory oversight of 'VIP' account management to prevent the exploitation of gambling addictions.
