- A new bill calls for a national framework around sports betting advertising
- Criticism of too much advertising in Canada
- National standards for the prevention and diagnosis of harmful gambling and addiction
The Canadian iGaming industry could soon find itself governed by new rules for national sport betting advertising, as a bill that would establish a new advertising framework took another step toward becoming law.
Bill S-211, the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, sponsored by Hon. Sen. Marty Deacon, last week was approved by Senate members in a hearing, and now heads for a third reading in the Senate.
The bill calls on the Minister of Canadian Heritage to develop a national framework for sports betting advertising, focused around what goes into gambling ads, when they run, and the volume of advertising that’s out there.
According to the bill, the national framework must:
(a) Identify measures to regulate sports betting advertising in Canada, with a view to restricting the use of such advertising, limiting the number, scope or location — or a combination of these — of the advertisements or to limiting or banning the participation of celebrities and athletes in the promotion of sports betting;
(b) Identify measures to promote research and intergovernmental information-sharing related both to the prevention and diagnosis of minors involved in harmful gambling activities and to support measures for persons who are impacted by it; and
(c) Set out national standards for the prevention and diagnosis of harmful gambling and addiction and for support measures for persons who are impacted by it.
National Framework for Advertising
The minister must consult with federal government ministers who have relevant responsibilities, as well as with representatives from provincial and territorial governments, relevant stakeholders, indigenous communities, and provincial gaming regulators.
Within one year after the day on which the act comes into force, the minister must prepare a report setting out both the national framework for the regulation of sports betting advertising and a strategy for implementing the national framework.
Last year, the bill known as Bill S-269 was approved in the Senate, but didn’t make it through the House of Commons before Parliament was dissolved and a national election was held last spring.Â
A Maru Public Opinion poll released in March 2024 said that 60% of Canadians believed a nationwide ban on sports betting commercials needed to be implemented right away.
Impact of Gambling on Young People
The big concern for Deacon and many others — and a primary reason for his sponsoring the bill — has been what many believe is a saturation of sports betting advertising and a concern about the impact of gambling on young people.Â
Then, there is the growing number of adult problem gamblers, who Deacon has said, are inundated with temptation when they sit down to watch a game. Deacon says the mental health impacts on those people, as well as people in their circles, causes collateral damage, including crime, bankruptcy, and suicides.Â
Deacon talked about the United Kingdom, which legalized single-event sports betting in 2005, with few restrictions on advertising, and now has an estimated third of a million people as problem gamblers, 55K of them children.
Fewer TV Ads
“This is all more than being just an irritation or distraction,” Deacon told the Senate chamber. “These promotions have very serious evidence-based negative consequences.”
Single-game wagering became law in Canada in 2021 (Bill C-218), and an open, competitive, regulated iGaming market went live in Ontario in April 2022.
Many people have expressed concern about Bill S-211. At the Canadian Gaming Summit in June, thinkTV CEO Catherine MacLeod said sports betting advertising has gone down in quantity since the regulated market in Ontario went live.
MacLeod’s nonprofit organization promotes the value of TV advertising for business and marketers, educating brands on how TV and digital can boost reach and engagement.
Limits on Sports Betting Ads
“Literally, it’s gone down every year since launch,” MacLeod told a panel during the summit. “So, it’s not, in my view, a problem with too much advertising. And you know, if you’re talking about television, if you want to reach kids, the last place you want to be is on television. Frankly, they’re not there for you. This idea that every kid is watching television is just so antiquated. I think that we’ve got a lot of 55 and 60-year-olds who are concerned on behalf of their children, about what’s going to be on the air.”Â
MacLeod said she believes broadcasters are trying to address these concerns in a variety of ways. “We all want to act responsibly, and certainly we go out of our way every day to make sure that that happens,” she said. “But you’re too late to the game … we have to think about the fact that regulated gaming is here and now.
Huge Grey Market
The idea behind a regulated iGaming market was to generate revenue for the government of Ontario and to eliminate the black and grey markets, MacLeod said. “We’ve been taking various.net players advertising dollars for decades so this isn’t a situation where suddenly, advertising is the problem.”Â
“We have a huge grey market in Ontario and getting it regulated, I think was an incredibly important step,” she added. “I think it’s been enormously successful and will continue to be … I think also that I have yet to meet a broadcaster, or, in fact, a gaming operator, who doesn’t, on the surface, want to do the right thing. It’s a very responsible group of people when it comes to advertising.”
NFL Weighs In
Sports leagues have also expressed concern about the legislation.
“The elimination of illegal gambling, especially offshore betting operators, requires not simply a legal alternative, but robust, active monitoring and enforcement backed by significant civil and criminal penalties for violations,” said Jonathan Nabavi, the NFL’s vice president for public policy and government affairs in a letter to the Canadian Senate in September 2024. “Unreasonably curtailing responsible advertising will inevitably hamper the important effort to channelize illegal sports betting into the legal market.”
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