The dominating story on the Canadian gaming front these days is where proposed new national advertising legislation (Bill S-269) sits, with the House of Commons in Ottawa gummed up over a privilege debate involving access to unredacted documents.
The opposition Conservatives and minority Liberal government have been mired in this debate for two months, each blaming the other side, which takes precedence over all other House business.
Bill S-269 cleared the Senate earlier this month and awaits First Reading in the House of Commons, the first step in a last chapter toward getting Royal Assent for the bill, when it then becomes law. Will they push it through before the House adjourns for Christmas recess Dec. 17?
Looming over all of this is a Conservative Party leading in the polls in trying to bring down the minority Liberal government via no-confidence vote. And the next national election is on or before Oct. 20, 2025. A long backlog of House bills needs to get moving once things get un-gummed.
Single-game wagering became legal in 2021 (Bill C-218) and an open, competitive, regulated, igaming market went live in Ontario in April 2022. Alberta is well down the road toward launching an Ontario-like commercial igaming regulatory regime.
In Ontario, according to Q1 FY 2024-25 financial data (fiscal period April 1 to June 30), wagers and revenues continued their upward swing, CA$18.4 billion and CA$726 million in Q1, respectively, with 51 operators, 83 gaming websites, and nearly 1.9 million active player accounts.
Of course, the industry and media have been mired in debate on the worthiness of the bill, sponsored by Senator Marty Deacon, including a much talked-about Globe and Mail editorial on Nov. 13 titled “Time to ante up on sports betting ads,” It insisted that the feds need to get this bill into law before Christmas, since “viewers’ synapses are inundated with ads for online betting during sports broadcasts.”
The bill calls for the Canadian Heritage Minister (presently Pascale St-Onge) to develop new national standards on gaming advertising around what goes into those ads, when they run, and the volume of advertising. The Minister would begin a dialogue with provincial lawmakers, First Nations, and gaming regulators to set the standards.
As Sen. Deacon told the Senate Chamber in September 2023, “When I and a majority in this chamber voted to pass C-218, which legalized single event sports betting, we were wading into the unknown. I was hesitant to vote for the bill. My main reason for voting in favor was to get illicit gambling activity into the light of day. We’ve seen how much revenue this has made in the first two years in Ontario alone. This money was leaving Canada or going into criminal elements, sometimes with dangerous consequences. In that sense, the bill has succeeded where I thought it would.
“I had a hope that by make making single-event sport betting legal, we would see some work to address its harms as well. That has not happened. I did not anticipate the level of promotion that we are seeing potentially creating a generation of problem gamblers. Do I regret my vote? I still do not, not yet anyways. We can still course correct, which is what I am trying to do with this legislation.”
Sen. Deacon referenced an Ipsos poll finding that 63% of those surveyed were tired of the amount of gambling ads they were seeing. She referenced the high volume of ads during 2023’s Leafs-Panthers NHL playoff series. And that’s not even factoring in the intermission segments where panelists give tips on betting odds.
A big concern for her and a primary reason for sponsoring the bill is the impact of gambling on young people. An Australian study found that young people are more likely to bet on impulse, potentially creating a new generation of gambling addicts.
Then there’s the growing number of adult problem gamblers, she said, inundated with temptation when they sit down to watch a game, with the mental-health impacts on those people as well as people in their circle, collateral damage being crime, bankruptcy, and suicide.
Deacon talked about the UK, which legalized single sports betting in 2005, with few restrictions on advertising. The country has an estimated third of a million problem gamblers, 55,000 of them children. “This is all more than being just an irritation or distraction,” she told the chamber. “These promotions have very serious evidence based negative consequences.”
Sen. Deacon isn’t calling for a full ban on the advertising, just legislation that restricts it, similar to the cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol industries.
One of the challenges in Canada that Deacon sees is the fact that each Canadian province has its own regulatory regime when it comes to gaming. Ontario is open to private operators who obtain licenses from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, but the only place one can bet legally in Alberta, for example, is Play Alberta.
Still, those Jamie Foxx BetMGM ads are broadcast nationally, so they appear in markets where BetMGM doesn’t have a license. That’s confusing for people; 39% of British Columbians, 27% of Atlantic Canadians, and 42% of Albertans think those companies are permitted to operate in their province, Deacon quoted. That needs to be addressed if this legislation goes forward.
Ontario saw a high volume of ads in the early days of regulation when industry operators were battling for market share. That’s now leveled out and the requisite reduction in gambling ads has been occurring, according to the Canadian Gaming Association.
The CGA recently commissioned a study from Vivvix/Media Radar to quantify exactly how many ads are being shown across Canada, completed in summer 2024. The study looked at all Canadian media between 2019 (pre-Ontario regulation) and 2023 (a year after regulation). Media includes television (network and elective), print (newspaper and magazine), out of home, radio, digital (desktop display, desktop video, mobile web browser). It also reviewed both NHL and NBA games originating from Canadian broadcasters.
CGA President and CEO Paul Burns said the study factually demonstrates that media have overblown the number of ads that have appeared.
Total media ad spend declined 7% year-over-year for online gambling in 2023 versus 2022, the study said. When compared to other key categories, online gambling represents an 8% share of total media ad spend in 2023. Automotive, financial and insurance, and fast food all have significantly higher spend than online gambling. Pharma has higher total media ad spend than online gambling.
“It is also worth remembering that there are many levels of regulations in place before a television ad is aired (AGCO standards, thinkTV, Ad Standards Canada), as well as parameters established by the leagues and the broadcasters,” Burns said in an email. “Operators must be compliant with all of these before an ad can be shown.”
Canadian provinces are the only entities that can determine what happens within their borders when it comes to gambling. The federal government transferred this power in 1985. Ontario already brought in its own set of advertising restrictions, introduced last February; among other things, they restrict the use of celebrities “who would likely be expected to appeal to minors.”
I’ve always dubious when government wants to layer in another level of bureaucratic oversight, whatever the industry. Not to diminish the reality of problem gambling, but I like to let the market sort things out. I don’t think celebrities have the level of influence on anyone’s actions that they used to, certainly these days. And that’s a good thing.
The Foxx ads and the recent FanDuel Jon Lovitz ad are great game-time entertainment. I get a laugh and enjoy them. I also applaud the Connor McDavid responsible-gambling ads that we’ve all been seeing on hockey broadcasts.
More of those, plus national restrictions on when gambling ads should run, on top of a market that’s seeing fewer gambling ads now, go far toward addressing the problem, especially as it relates to targeting young people.
Links to ConnexOntario, where people can go for free and confidential support for gambling-addiction issues, have been front and center on operator platforms. They need more support to be more front and center.
No one is denying the problem-gambling issues. A talk I had on background with a licensed operator about massive bets being placed by individuals was sobering.
How many of those individuals are out there and how much a Wayne Gretzky gaming ad impacted their gambling decisions before celebrity ads were banned in Ontario are debatable. We just don’t know. The regulated market in Ontario is only 2.5 years in.
“I think (the bill) is a knee-jerk reaction to a lot of poorly researched and sensationalized media coverage demonizing betting and gaming advertising in Canada,” said Mark Harper, Head of Emerging Markets, BVGroup. The company’s BetVictor brand is licensed and operating in Ontario.
“As an example, online gambling has only represented 2% of all TV ad occurrences in 2022 and 2023, in Canada. I would also argue that the gaming sector already holds itself accountable and does some very thorough research on its own, through organisations such as the CGA (Canadian Gaming Association).”
The current legislative roadblock in Ottawa might make the whole thing moot, anyway.
