Researchers are joining the call for national advertising standards to help dull the steep incline of gambling — especially in sports. After legalization in 2021, and despite Ontario being the only province to develop a private market, advertisements for sports betting have flooded TVs and sports stadiums.
According to iGaming Ontario (iGO) — the agency that oversees that province’s online gambling — $63 billion was wagered on online sites registered in Ontario in the last fiscal year, nearly doubling the previous year.
About 15 per cent, or nearly $10 billion of that, was in the category that includes sports betting.
iGO and Deloitte said governments took in a combined $1.2 billion in revenue in that 2023-24 fiscal year from online gaming while “displacing” unregulated sites and services.
