Every time the ball reaches the boundary this Ashes series, cricket lovers will be exposed to advertising from foreign-owned bookie bet365 a gold sponsor of Cricket Australia.

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Gambling advertising from bet365, Ladbrokes, Neds and Unibet has become ubiquitous.

In fact there are a million gambling ads on our screens each year. And it is having an impact, especially on our kids.

Research shows that 600,000 underage teenagers (aged 12-17) gamble $18 million a year. Appallingly, research shows kids as young as 10 can identify the colours and brands of these gambling outlets and even demonstrate brand loyalty.

But how much do we really know about how these foreign bookies operate?

A staggering 80-90 per cent of online betting turnover now flows to foreign-owned companies.

These household names are embedded into sport, saturated across our screens, and woven into the digital habits of millions of Australians. And their influence far outstrips the level of visibility we have into their finances and practices.

The result is a market where profits quietly leave the country, but harm stays here.

Most global betting giants operate nationally using a licence from the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission, a small regulator originally designed for modest, early-2000s online bookmakers.

Today, this under-resourced body oversees multibillion-dollar corporations headquartered in the UK, Ireland and Malta.

It is, in effect, Australia's regulatory tax haven for global gambling companies: low tax, light oversight, quick approvals, and limited scrutiny of their financial accounts or responsible-gambling practices.

The NT model does not just distort competition. It undermines national consumer protection standards and........

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