This was published 10 months ago
Taylor Swift’s partnership with Crown criticised by anti-gambling experts
By Kerrie O'Brien and Martin Boulton
Anti-gambling advocates have criticised Taylor Swift’s decision to partner with Crown for her upcoming Australian tour, arguing that the tie-in could encourage gambling among the singer’s fan base.
When Swift announced the Australian leg of her Eras tour on Wednesday, it was described by the promoter, Frontier Touring, as being “presented by Crown”. Crown did not disclose the monetary value of the deal but previous sponsorship arrangements with the Australian Open and the Grand Prix have meant sports stars and their teams stay at the resort.
Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour is sponsored by Crown.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
Crown told this masthead that the deal with Swift was strictly with the organisation’s Crown Metropol hotel, not its gaming centre. As a presenting partner, Crown has been allocated a highly sought-after pre-sale ticket allocation, allowing fans to purchase tickets to Swift’s shows as part of a hotel package.
The focus for events around the Swift tour is the company’s retail and food spaces, separate to the gaming centre. Since the company was bought by US firm Blackstone – owner of the Hilton Hotel chain, among other things – in June last year, it is gearing up to increase its brand positioning in music and the arts.
The Crown group recently reached an agreement to pay one of the biggest financial penalties in Australian corporate history for money laundering and counter-terrorism failings, and multimillion-dollar fines for improper tax deductions. Regulators in three states found the organisation unfit to hold licences in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, although it continues to operate in those states following management and governance overhauls.
Anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello, the former head of World Vision, says the partnership between Swift and Crown raises questions for the 33-year-old pop singer. “I would push the question back on Taylor Swift,” he says. “Do you know it was found to have the worst predatory gambling practices of anywhere in Australia, it had massive money laundering ... Taylor, do you really want to be identified with it?”
Swift kicked off her tour in Arizona.Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Costello says Swift should be careful to protect her reputation. “Her management should do due diligence, she’s paying them big dollars. The royal commission was front page news here in Australia, so it’s one click.”
Swift’s management and touring company Frontier did not respond to requests for comment.
Crown Melbourne chief executive Mike Volkert said entertainment was part of the organisation’s DNA. “We are proud to play a role in bringing this tour to Australia, which will have a significant and positive impact on the Melbourne and Sydney economies,” he said.
Bloomberg has reported that Swift is making more than $US10 million ($14.75 million) a show. She played two nights in Las Vegas after the tour kicked off in Glendale, Arizona, in March and was celebrated for helping revitalise the city following the pandemic.
Irish musician Sir Bob Geldof will appear at Crown next week, talking about his life and work in music and humanitarian causes. Tickets to see the creator of LiveAid cost just under $700, including a three-course meal and drinks.
The news of Swift’s partnership with Crown comes just four years after she withdrew from a planned appearance at the Melbourne Cup. Even though a scheduling clash was cited as the official reason, her absence followed a social media campaign and a 6000-strong petition created by animal rights activists against her performance.
Associate Professor Charles Livingstone, of Monash University, says Crown is clearly keen to align itself with Swift – one of the biggest pop stars in the world – and her massive audience.
“This is an attempt to propagandise a music identity, a popular star, and to associate her with their brand,” he says. “What that does in marketing in the public health context is about normalising their brand and making it seem like it’s something positive, supporting young people and music lovers.
“It’s not particularly subtle but it associates Crown with something positive, rather than money laundering, criminal infiltration, exploitation of vulnerable people and massive fines for avoiding taxation and the law.”
“They are in desperate need of rehabilitation of their reputation, I don’t think there’s much doubt about that. They are obviously happy to spend whatever it costs to sponsor her and that would be in the many, many millions I would have thought,” he says.
Some European countries are in the process of prohibiting sports stars from associating themselves with gambling companies, Livingstone says.
“Young people look up to these people and if a super soccer star endorses a gambling product then young people and other impressionable people will think, ‘Oh it must be good’, because they love their hero,” he says.
“The AFL has allowed players who don’t want to endorse the bookies to disassociate themselves from that and increasingly the more discerning players will do that.”
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clarification
This article has been updated to say that Crown Resorts has reached an agreement to pay a financial penalty, rather than ‘Crown recently paid’.