If you have concerns about alcohol sponsorship within a sports or other club, please also read the section Alcohol and Sports and other clubs.
Remember that the ASA Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol (Principle 4) states that sponsorship should not be undertaken for events where minors (<18 years) are likely to comprise more than 25% of the participants, or spectators. Check to see if this is the case at the club you are concerned about. Effective from July 2021, the Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code (Principle 3) says that Alcohol sponsorship advertising and promotion must target adult audiences, meaning adults are at least 80% of the estimated participants or spectators.
Find out what you can about how the alcohol sponsorship is being applied and how it is being received, and who is receiving the sponsorship messages.
Be aware of where alcohol sponsorship is being applied in a sporting or cultural organisation or event. What is the benefit for the group being sponsored? Could equivalent benefit be found or sourced elsewhere?
Are children and young people exposed to the alcohol sponsorship? How so? Are they seeing it on television, at sporting venues, in clubrooms, on uniforms, is it on equipment they are using themselves, is it on signage and promotional materials for events? Are the alcohol sponsorship messages reaching our children and young people through social media? Is there branded merchandise in your home linking alcohol brands and sporting and cultural events and teams?
Get clear about what specifically you want to see change and why. The existing rules, principles, and guidelines are very permissive. We can ask for higher standards to be set in our homes, communities, our clubs, our sporting codes. We can ask our community and political leaders for higher standards to be set.