Jai Arrow walked out for his 100th and final NRL game on Friday night, flanked by a guard of honour of more than 100 Souths old boys, with You'll Never Walk Alone ringing around the ground and most of the stadium in tears. New Zealand viewers got about three seconds of it before Sky Sport cut away to a gambling ad.
The ad was for Betcha, and it ran for one minute and 20 seconds. By the time live coverage returned, Arrow was already on the field and the moment had come and gone.
Arrow, 31, announced his retirement in May after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, which left him two games short of 100 for South Sydney. The NRL approved a one-off rule change so he could get there, naming him as an additional player on the team list and in the interchange rotation for the final two rounds.
He played 178 NRL games across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and South Sydney, and 12 State of Origin matches for Queensland. He is now the 67th player to reach 100 games for the Rabbitohs.
The walk out was the part everyone had been waiting for. Wayne Bennett stood at the end of the line with his arms open, Arrow broke down and embraced his wife Berina Colakovic, and the crowd stayed on its feet through the whole thing. Roosters captain Connor Watson summed it up afterwards by saying "things like that are bigger than rugby league".
None of which made it to air across the Tasman.
The comments under Sky Sport NZ's Instagram post turned into a pile-on within minutes. One viewer pointed out that the broadcaster had promoted the entire game around Arrow and then played a betting ad through his walk out, while another said Sky clearly did not stand with him if a gambling spot mattered more than his last few metres on a football field. The All Blacks account replied with three hearts in green, black and red.
New Zealand viewers made their feelings known in the comments. Image: Instagram
Sky New Zealand head of sport content Gary Burchett fronted Newstalk ZB on Saturday and did not try to talk his way around it, saying the broadcaster "should have shown that moment in full, live". His explanation was that the Titans and Dolphins match ran long, host broadcaster Fox switched to the Rabbitohs and Roosters tunnel earlier than expected, and a scheduling error meant the ad rolled.
Burchett also confirmed the decision was made by people rather than an automated system, which is the detail doing the most damage. Sky has since apologised publicly, posted the full celebration across its social channels and promised to make it available on demand. Comments on that post were switched off.
Gambling advertising in live sport has been argued over on both sides of the Tasman for the better part of a decade, usually in the abstract, usually with numbers attached.
Sky Sport has just handed the anti-gambling lobby the single most effective piece of campaign material it will get all year, and it did it in one minute and 20 seconds.
In short, gambling ads suck and need to go.
Read the full article Sky Sport NZ Cops A Roasting For Playing A Gambling Ad Over Jai Arrow’s Final Walk Out on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!
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