AFL tells Sportsbet to stop using players in AI-generated content

The AFL has told its official gambling partner, Sportsbet, to stop featuring its high-profile athletes in AI-generated social media content without player permission. Sportsbet has also been told to delete AI videos depicting AFL stars delivering lines from movies, television shows or speeches to react to real events. The videos were age-restricted and designed to boost Sportsbet’s engagement on social media, in a bid for new audiences and customers. The videos were published despite the federal government legis…

By the Truvace deskOctober 14, 20262 min read1 sourceJournalismTRV-2026-1369· cite & verify

AFL tells Sportsbet to stop using players in AI-generated content

In brief

The AFL told its official gambling partner Sportsbet to stop using its athletes in AI-generated social media content made without player permission, and to delete videos that placed player likenesses in famous movie, television and speech lines. The clips were reported to be age-restricted and aimed at boosting engagement. They were taken down from Instagram after Guardian Australia contacted the company.

The case shows how generative tools can turn athletes' images into marketing material faster than the agreements governing image use can adapt. The 2023-2027 collective bargaining agreement does not mention AI, and the AFL says it will keep working with partners as the technology evolves. It remains unclear how the rules will be settled or enforced, and whether other content or partners are affected.

Main points

The AFL told Sportsbet to stop using players in AI-generated social media content without permission and to delete the videos.
Videos depicted Lachie Neale mimicking a Snoop Dogg speech and Will Ashcroft delivering a line from the show Ozark.
The AFL Players' Association wrote to the league arguing the videos breached the collective bargaining agreement.
Sportsbet also made AI content using images of coaches Sam Mitchell and Alastair Clarkson.
Senator David Pocock said the case shows a need for more regulation of gambling firms and deepfakes.

The problem

Sportsbet used AI to manipulate AFL players' likenesses in humorous social media videos without their approval, which the players' union said breached collective bargaining rules and which a senator said exposed a lack of safeguards against deep fakes.

The rundown

The videos used well-known lines to react to real events. One showed Neale accepting an award at his new club, Collingwood. Another was presented as Ashcroft's response to Fremantle playing a song in the final quarter of the 2026 grand final. Sportsbet removed them from Instagram on Tuesday afternoon, after being contacted by Guardian Australia.

The players' union said the content breached the collective bargaining agreement, which limits how league partners can use player images. The agreement allows Sportsbet to use player images and vision without permission only in certain circumstances and with restrictions, and it does not address AI. The union's legal affairs general manager said AFL would now work with Sportsbet to remove the content.

The videos appeared even though the federal government has legislated to ban athletes appearing in gambling ads, with the new rules taking effect next year. Sportsbet said it listens to partner feedback and is working with the AFL on the evolving use of AI. University of Sydney researcher Mark Johnson suggested someone at Sportsbet acted without thinking about how athletes' images are part of brands and ownership.