Hawthorn are one of the richest clubs in the AFL. But there’s a secret behind their riches.
The Hawks are the biggest pokies club in the league. They rake in almost $24 million a year from slot machines they own across Melbourne. All the while victims and their families are torn apart by these destructive machines.
Footy is a family friendly sport. Hawthorn should have no business profiting from addiction in pokies and we need your help to get them out of it.
Melbourne and Geelong are already out of pokies. It’s time the Hawks get out too.
Too much money is being made by corporations off of the pain of pokies victims and their families. Including Hawthorn.
Australians gamble more than any other country on earth and pokies are the “lifeblood” of of this massively lucrative industry.
Over half of all money gambled in Australia was poured into slot machines in 2015-16 ($12.1 billion out of $23.6 billion).
It's because they’re one of the most intense forms of gambling in the world: if played at maximum bet and speed, you can easily lose a whopping $600 to $1,200 an hour.
But not only this, the machines are designed to addict. Stimulating the very same parts of your brain as cocaine.
Pokies make inequality worse: poorer suburbs lose more than three times the money than those in advantaged areas, and in the past pokies owners have been accused of deliberately targeting poor people.
A recent study also revealed a link between AFL-controlled pokies clubs and the rising rates of family violence.
Hawthorn needs to get out this dirty business. The footy season’s well underway and your voice, along with thousands of other SumOfUs members, could pressure the club to do the right thing.
Tell Hawthorn to get out of pokies now.More information
Guardian Australia. 25 May 2018.
Alliance for Gambling Reform. 20 May 2018.
