Today's decision by the MCG Trust not to extend its live-odds agreement with Betfair should be welcomed by every football fan. Since these types of arrangements were entered into, betting prices are touted to the public at virtually every opportunity on the big screen, and in telecasts on TV and radio, seducing fans into having a punt.

There's nothing wrong with having a bet on the footy - for many it can add to the spectacle and to the experience. Knowing you have money on the game may add to the palpitations and increase your enjoyment level; you also stand to make a few quid, which is nice.

But central to the question is role of a positive role model the administrators, officials and players must play to the throngs of dedicated fans who support the game week-in week-out. It's especially the kids we have to worry about. While all over Australia children have posters of 'Daisy' Thomas and Nick Riewoldt their walls, and as long as they'll try to mimic an Andrew Walker hanger, thinking about how the game is shaping their minds has to be a top priority.

I've now lost count of the number of times at the football I've heard a parent explaining the funny numbers on the big screen to their tween: "See if Collingwood beats Brisbane by 25 points, we can go get takeaway on the way home." Tying together a child's love of football - such a pure and simple affection, driven only by admiration of skill and a hope to one-day replicate it - with something as dangerously addictive as betting, even inadvertently, is not a path we want to walk down.

As MCC CEO Steven Gough told ABC radio today, the betting ads were being promoted more than the actual game so the committee made a decision that was not ''consistent with what the ground and the game should be about''.

When you then mention the new fashion of the co-branding of club betting sites, such as "bombersbet.com.au" - and sponsorship deals and the promotions that go with it; I was offered a free St Kilda jumper if I put on a $50 bet with Centrebet - the trend becomes worrisome.

It's very dangerous to think that a new generation of football supporters - or supporters of cricket or rugby, for that matter - will be more interested in how much money they can win from the game, or worse, trying to make up for last week's loss, than on appreciating the unique skills and culture of our code.

I accept that it's difficult in the age of increasing financial disparity between AFL clubs to convince them not to take more sponsorship dollars from contentious industries. I accept that every dollar is important to struggling clubs. But resisting the primal urge to take money from all corners is important, and we've done it before with cigarette companies, for example. The morals and values we uphold as a sport are integral to its future growth and those in charge of the sport need to weigh this up.

The MCC should be congratulated for setting such a positive example and a strong message to the football public.

There must be a limit on where the sport's expansion is funded. Conceptually, betting is fine, but its promotion should not become so pernicious that it strikes hits at the heart of what made the game so strong in the first place.