The NSW Council of Churches has criticised the number of gambling and alcohol related advertisements displayed during the nation's football grand finals.
"High levels of advertising for gambling and alcohol are out of place during Grand Final week in our great sporting codes," council president, Rev Dr Ross Clifford, said in a statement today.
"As the Australian Rugby League Grand Final approaches there is genuine community concern about levels of [such] advertising through major televised sports and club sponsorship."
Major companies including Sportsbet, TAB and Carlton United Breweries secured game-time advertising in the match between Sydney and Hawthorn, the most watched program so far this year.
The committee, made up of church leaders from various Christian denominations, also called for tighter regulation by the state to help address binge drinking and alcohol-related violence, particularly among teens and young adults.
In the past, the group had proposed to implement harm minimisation measures such as earlier closing times for bars and pubs, lock-outs and raising the state's legal drinking age.
A recent report by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) found that alcohol played a part in around 5,554 Australian deaths each year.
The NRL grand final begins at 7:20pm AEST this Sunday, with the South Sydney Rabbitohs playing off against the Canterbury Bulldogs at the ANZ Stadium.