Australian sporting stars are teaming up to demand a ban on alcohol advertising across all codes.

AFL great Mick Malthouse and former Parramatta rugby league player Steve Ella are among a long list of athletes helping to launch the End Alcohol Advertising in Sport campaign on Wednesday.

"The game I love is awash with alcohol sponsorship. Help me change that," Ella said ahead of the launch in Melbourne.

He called for the NRL to rethink its "toxic association with alcohol" and get on with the game.

Malthouse said he saw how affected his grandchildren were by things on TV that it got him thinking about "the impact certain products have on these kids".

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It comes as a new report reveals children were exposed to more than three cases of alcohol advertising every minute of this year's NRL grand final.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education produced the study into the amount and type of alcohol advertising on free-to-air television during the 2018 AFL and NRL grand finals.

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Foundation chief executive Michael Thorn said a "nonsensical exemption" in the Australian Commercial Television Code of Practice exposed children to the ads during the matches.

"The evidence is very clear that children's exposure to alcohol advertising encourages them to start drinking earlier, to binge drink more often, and to start a journey toward alcohol-related harm," he said.

"It's time for regulators to put an end to the alcohol industry's deliberate efforts to encourage systematic alcohol harm and abuse in its customers of tomorrow."