Exposure to preference-matched alcohol advertisements from national sports broadcasts increases short-term alcohol consumption inclinations in risky drinkers.

Background: In Australia, sports broadcasting is afforded special alcohol advertising rights during daytime hours, which raises public health concerns, including short-term increases in alcohol consumption among the broad viewership of national sporting codes.

Methods: We conducted a content analysis across a sample of nationally televised finals matches (N = 16) from the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL) to determine the prevalence of alcohol advertising video clips during these broadcasts. We also conducted an online experiment exposing participants (N = 345) to a randomly selected alcohol advertisement and measured the immediate effects on self-reported alcohol craving and drinking intentions.

Results: The prevalence of alcohol advertising video clips during AFL broadcasts was 3.9% and 1.8% for NRL. While, overall, alcohol advertisement video clip exposure did not impact craving or drinking intentions, a modest increase in craving was found for a subsample of risky drinking participants (N = 107) who also reported a preference for the specific alcoholic beverage being advertised.

Conclusions: Video alcohol advertisements occurred less than 1 in 20 advertisements on average and exposure to alcohol advertising elicited a low, yet measurable, short-term increase in alcohol inclinations, among vulnerable adult drinkers when a desirable alcoholic beverage advertisement is viewed. SO WHAT?: Given that alcohol advertisements are most likely to increase consumption among risky drinkers, health messaging during sports broadcasts needs to specifically target these individuals.