Betting ads in Ontario continue to explode

Sports betting and online gambling have recently been legalized in Ontario. On the one hand, this has helped to bring more revenue to the province. But, on the other hand, there is a downside. Currently, ads for online and offline betting are on the rise. In fact, they are becoming so common that some senators are taking notice. With their awareness of these ads comes the possibility of cracking down on them by introducing national regulations to deal with this influx of advertising.

Unfortunately, while there are strict rules in place governing exactly what can and cannot be done with online gambling in the province, the same is not true for gambling ads. These days, there are a growing number of ads geared toward sports betting. Such ads are all about persuading new players to sign up or join a betting site so that they can place bets. For many, these ads are not only incredibly annoying but potentially very dangerous too. Senator Marty Deacon, of Ontario’s Waterloo region, is especially vocal on these two points.

She claims that the situation is made even worse by the fact that many of these advertisements utilize a celebrity presence. This helps to sensationalize the ads making them even more attractive, Not only that, but they can encourage addictive behaviours. The younger generation, who are already primed to respond to this type of advertising, are particularly susceptible.

With such an imminent threat to younger as well as vulnerable people, it’s increasingly obvious that something urgent needs to be done to mitigate this. Because of this, she is proposing specific legislation to regulate the advertising of sports betting options and sites. This, she demands, should be part of a national framework. And, it would prevent, or at the very least limit, celebrities and athletes from being part of these ads and further exacerbating the problems. Additionally, the proposals she seeks to implement would also put a firm limitation on the number of ads that can be shown in any one location.

The main problem, as Deacon points out, is that the sheer number and proliferation of these ads has taken everyone by surprise. Yes, once online sports betting was legalized it was natural that some ads would be out there. But, no one anticipated just how many there would be. Or that the consequences would be so dire in such a short period of time. As such, she maintains that it’s essential that steps be taken to curb this right now before it potentially becomes too late.

Essentially, the regulation of these betting ads would be done in a similar fashion to the way ads have regulations for alcohol and tobacco. As such, all types of addictive substances or gaming would have ad regulation.

Huge numbers of ads in a growing market

As a whole, Canadian gambling and sportsbooks are doing very well. The first full financial year, 2022-23, since single-event wagering was launched in 2021 saw C$7 billion in bets accepted at sportsbooks across the nation. This translated into revenue of C$433 million.

Now Deacon is not trying to prevent this in any way. In fact, just the opposite. She’s very supportive of single-game sports betting in the country and feels it’s a much better way to regulate the betting industry as a whole. It’s the constant and intrusive advertising that she has a problem with.

There are a number of top sports in Canada, but some of them are more lucrative than others. For instance, surprisingly, basketball was the most popular sport to bet on in this first year with 29% of bets placed on a basketball game. Following this was soccer with 15% of the bets, football at 13% and hockey with just 9% of the handle in fourth place. Now the lack of bets on hockey may come as a surprise given Canada’s affinity for the sport. But it can be explained by the fact that betting only became legal in the last few weeks of the 2021-22 NHL season. Therefore, players were not given much chance to place a wager.

Despite all this, there are still far too many ads. Fans of sports and bettors alike are all noticing the influx of ads when watching sport, especially during commercial breaks. It’s becoming too much even for those that do participate in betting.

A hockey fan even noted how obvious the issue was when watching the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL playoffs. Apparently, there were over eight minutes of sports-related gambling ads during Game 1 of the series against the Florida Panthers alone.

And that’s not all. Those on their mobile phones are also subjected to a huge range of ads. And this is in addition to ads they already see on TV. Let’s also not forget that many sports teams, such as soccer teams, will also have advertising on their jerseys as well. It’s becoming too much and even the UK’s Premier League teams have taken note. So much so, that all 20 teams are planning to remove advertising from their kit by the end of 2026.

With all this going on, Deacon is also a strong advocate for enforcing responsibility from the companies promoting their betting products. She says there should be some requirement to remind bettors that doing too much can result in financial issues down the line.

More people are joining the push for ad regulation

Deacon is not alone though in wanting more regulation for these sports betting ads. Recently, the University of Toronto launched a campaign — Ban Ads For Gambling. Impressively, there are some big sports names linked to this campaign including Clara Hughes of speed skating and cycling fame.

Again though, no one is pushing for a total ban. Simply that there should be rules in place.

For Deacon, these regulations cannot come fast enough. Ideally, she’d like to see them passed within a year due to the worries surrounding potential impacts on children. Of course, it will take time. Each Senate bill has to go through as many as three readings before going to the House of Commons. But still, she maintains it’s time to get the ball rolling.