Brouhaha around betting ads heats up (again) like Ontario's weather this week
While the AGCO scours 40 submissions about its proposed standards to online gambling advertising, the to-ing and fro-ing continues with a focus on broadcasts of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In this issue:
Back and forth continues on sports betting ads
Regular routine returns on LinkedIn Audio
A summary from symposium on gambling in sport
From Skyline Seats to Hole Zero
Rivalry goes mobile in Ontario
Summit season is around the corner in T.O.
No date set for AGCO update as debate over betting ads heats up
Siri, where do we start? Also, why didn’t I pay better attention to those tutorials on using Microsoft Excel?. . . .
OK, we jest a little bit on the Microsoft Excel thing, although we would damn well benefit from using a spreadsheet these days to track the various thoughts and layers of opinion being bandied about when it comes to the advertising and promotion of licensed sportsbooks in Ontario. And speaking of which, how long before the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario unveils its next step in possible tweaks to the standards around said advertising.
Gaming News Canada reached out to the always-responsive communications team at the AGCO and asked about the timing around an announcement now that it has feedback from stakeholders on the proposed changes to standards that would restrict athlete and celebrity participation in online gambling advertising.
From the commission comms corps:
From the outset of Ontario’s new open, regulated internet gaming (igaming) market launch last year, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has indicated that it would continuously assess the igaming landscape to effectively address new or emerging risks to Ontarians. Advertising and marketing approaches that include athletes, as well as celebrities that can reasonably be expected to appeal to minors were identified.
The AGCO has completed stakeholder consultations regarding changes we are proposing to igaming advertising standards. We customarily conduct such engagements before considering any regulatory changes. We received approximately 40 submissions from a diverse range of stakeholders and are now conducting a detailed review of all information received.
For further information on this topic, you can find information here on the proposed changes to the Standards that would restrict athlete and celebrity participation in internet gambling advertising.
We value direct stakeholder feedback to inform any changes we are considering to the AGCO’s Standards and we’re grateful to all who took the time to share their perspectives and expertise.
Once the process is complete, if there are changes to Standards, this information will be provided to stakeholders and posted to our website.
So, we now know there were 40 submissions, but no date for an update.
What prompted our request was a week of concentrated coverage around the issue, including:
A column by Globe and Mail health expert Andre Picard titled Are gambling ads harmful? You can bet on it. Wrote Picard:
Using hockey stars like Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid (both are BetMGM ambassadors) and Auston Matthews (for Bet99), the ads are designed to make betting on hockey look like a surefire money-maker, and fun and exciting.
The reality is that, like all gambling, losing is the norm – Mr. Gretzky’s tacky exhortation that every bet “has the potential for greatness,” notwithstanding.
Multimillionaire athletes peddling sports betting is the modern equivalent of the doctors who were featured in smoking ads prior to the 1950s. History will not be kind to them.
Another column in Canada’s national newspaper, this one by sports columnist Cathal Kelly, with the headline Hockey’s reckoning with gambling is coming, but until then everyone is too busy cashing in.
Karl Subban, a member of the Ban Ads for Gambling group, told Adrian Ghobrial of CTV News that there’s a “need to limit the volume of these ads because the athletes, actors and actresses in these commercials are so powerful and influential.”
During an appearance in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Monday, Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation CEO Duncan Hannay said “I think it would be appropriate to have a better balance of advertising, on balance”.
As Geoff Zochodne reported in his coverage of the committee meeting, OLG hasn’t shied away from spending advertising dollars including the naming last November of Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares as a ProLine ambassador, and using retired Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph in ProLine commercials during the Stanley Cup playoffs (OLG is also among 7-9 sports betting and gaming operators which could be seen on broadcasts of Toronto games during the first two rounds of the NHL postseason).
From the Twitterverse this week:
And this:
Last, but certainly not least, Canadian Gaming Association commander Paul Burns appeared on CBC’s Cross-Country Checkup and told Ian Hanomansing, “I think some people have been concerned about the volume of advertising and that turned into ‘we should ban it’. I don’t think that’s the right solution.” Burns also appeared on CBC’s The National last night, speaking with reporter Jamie Strashin (who also wrote a catch-all on the regulated gambling industry in Ontario):
Burns stepped away from the Symposium on Match Manipulation and Gambling in Sport yesterday morning to speak with GNC about the latest onslaught of media coverage and what he’s hearing from his members, nine of which are regulated operators in Ontario.
“There’s a sense of frustration because it’s an emotional discussion coming from the other sides,” Burns said. “You read or hear things like ‘if you gamble, you will become addicted’. That’s just not true. Everyone has a piece of data they’ve heard somewhere, and most of it isn’t accurate.
“The belief that banning gambling advertising will solve a problem is nonsense. We’ve had gambling advertising for decades, and gambling isn’t new. In the context of all of that, let’s have a discussion about how the industry participates in advertising.”
Much of the consternation appears to stem from the broadcasts of NHL games on Rogers and CBC, particularly during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Subban, during his media tour, tells the story of standing in front of the television during commercial breaks of Hockey Night in Canada so his grandchildren don’t see sportsbook ads. One of the responses from the OLG’s Hannay on Monday was to a comment from NDP MP France Gélinas that “every commercial” during the playoffs appeared to be from a betting business. We were provided an anecdote about a visitor from the United Kingdom recently who said the overwhelming presence of sportsbook branding (on commercials, in sponsored pre-game segments, in arenas, and through the use of the NHL’s award-winning digital board ads) during a hockey broadcast reminded them “of the old days of the Premier League”.
We traded emails yesterday with Amanda Brewer, who before joining Kindred Group as its Canadian country manager was a consultant to the Canadian Gaming Association during the road to regulation in Ontario two years ago, and is a regular guest on the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
“What is obvious is that the current unhappiness with advertising is directly solely at sports betting and specifically at hockey, and at the concentration of various forms of advertising during a hockey game and throughout a broadcast,” Brewer wrote us. “It’s unfortunate there is so much misinformation being spread about what the AGCO is trying to accomplish with its consultation process, as the overall launch of regulated iGaming advertising in the province has been done responsibly thanks to the strong responsible gambling-focused standards that all operators must follow.
“Now is the right time to review the advertising and marketing standards. A year is long enough for the market to mature and for operators to try out different ads and channels to see what works.”
Added Burns: “There are other stakeholders in this. There are broadcasters, there are leagues which own the product. We all need to work together to make sure the product is done in a responsible and measured way.
“Everyone has a responsibility, not just the gaming industry.”
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Return to the regular routine for the Gaming News Canada Show
We’re excited about reconnecting with our usual litany of listeners this afternoon on LinkedIn Audio for the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Regular contributors Amanda Brewer (Kindred Group) and Kris Abbott (Betano) are scheduled to join us, as we usher in June with 60 minutes of conversation on a smorgasbord of topics from the past couple of weeks.
As always, it’s BYOQ (bring your own questions) and/or BYOO (bring your own opinions). And, in case you missed our one-on-one conversation last week with Richard McLaren about integrity, and corruption, in sport:
A summary from the symposium on gambling in sport
Family commitments prevented your friendly neighbourhood EIC from attending the Symposium on Competition Manipulation and Gambling in Sport, which took place over the past two days inside the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle.
Thanks to the internets and our friends on the communications side, we’re delivering some highlights from the event, co-hosted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, and McLaren Global Sport Solutions:
The International Betting Integrity Association, along with its members Bet365, FanDuel and Betway, announced Tuesday a pledge of $300,000 over the next three years to “establish and fund a best-in-class Canada-wide athlete education program”. IBIA, in a news release, said the group is in discussions with a partner to deliver the program with an announcement expected to come soon. The program is scheduled to be rolled out in the second half of this year and will include face-to-face athlete training, an e-learning portal, an anonymous reporting app and awareness-raising material.
“Maintaining the integrity of sport is essential to players’ safety and enjoyment—the pillars of what we do at FanDuel. As a newly-regulated market, we are committed to supporting educational programs in Ontario that will help increase understanding and protections for athletes, bettors, and beyond,” said FanDuel Canada grand poobah Dale Hooper.
Added Khalid Ali, the CEO of IBIA: “IBIA is delighted that our members, such as bet365, Betway and FanDuel, are so committed to sports betting education and are prepared to invest in such an important initiative. All of the partners are excited to see the positive impact this project will have on maintaining the integrity of Canadian sport and the players themselves. For IBIA, sports integrity, and investing in the people that make sport happen, matters.
Geoff Zochodne, doing the multi-tasking thing as a panelist and journalist, reported for Covers on last week’s announcement by the CCES that it’s put in place an e-learning course to bring CFL players and personnel up to speed on the league’s new match manipulation policy.
While speaking with him on the advertising issue yesterday, Paul Burns also provided a few bots about the symposium (the CGA president/CEO moderated a Day 1 panel on the evolving sports betting landscape in Canada). “We explained how gaming is organized. . . what the regulators do, and what the operators do,” Burns told us. “The sporting community is still learning about (regulated gaming). There’s always been a need for education and the changing laws have brought it to the forefront in Canada.”
We also grabbed some noteworthy tweets posted during the symposium:
TheScore moves from Skyline Seats to Hole Zero at RBC Canadian Open
From 30-something metres in the air to terra firma. Or, to be precise, Hole Zero.
TheScore, which attracted a lot of attention - and a few awards - for its Sightline Seats activation at last year’s RBC Canadian Open, is taking a different . . . er. . . course for next week’s PGA Tour event at the Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto. So long, acrophobia. Hello, yips and shanks.
Hole Zero is a 150-yard par-3 hole that will be available to golf fans attending any of the four rounds of what Canadians proudly call the fifth major championship in the men’s game. We direct you to the Hole Zero website for all of the details in booking your “tee time” (and we promise that theScore founder John Levy won’t be giving swing advice or offering to be your caddy . . . .).
“For this year’s RBC Canadian Open, we wanted to build on the excitement from last year and bring fans even closer to the action,” said Aubrey Levy, theScore Bet’s senior VP for content and marketing. “So, we’ve gone from the sky with Skyline Seats, onto the course, with a first-of-its-kind experience, allowing fans to actually play a full hole at the event with our Hole Zero.
“We know golf fans are always eager to get as close to the action as possible, and now they’ll be able to do so right on the course and in a premium and unique way right alongside the pros. Hole Zero is another extension of our brand and activation strategy as we focus on adding real value for fans across our portfolio of partnerships and platforms.”
Rivalry unveils its mobile app for Ontario customers
Less than a week after Steven Salz told Gaming News Canada that Rivalry’s mobile app was coming “very, very soon”, we know what that means.
It’s here.
The Canadian company announced Tuesday the app is ready for public consumption and use in Ontario’s regulated sports and esports betting marketplace.
“Mobile betting is a significant addition for our Ontario operations and core audience of Millennial and Gen Z consumers that prefer the flexibility of betting on their phones,” Steven Salz said in a communique.
Users can use the app to wager on a number of esports, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Dota 2, and will also have access to mainstream sports.
“Launching a mobile app adds an important layer of accessibility to our product, increasing our addressable market in Ontario, and allowing us to bring esports betting to more customers in the region and ultimately grow the category,” Salz added.
Hot town, Summit in the city
Today, we welcome the sixth month of 2023, and we also recognize the Canadian Gaming Summit is just around the proverbial corner (although, if you’re a frequent user of LinkedIn, you’ve been exposed to a plethora of posts, including one from your humble chronicler, promoting their presence at the June 13-15 industry gathering inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Event organizers SBC distributed correspondence yesterday with information on the summit’s keynote sessions. One session will compare provincial gaming models on compliance, responsible gambling, licensing, etc., etc., with a panel that includes BCLC chief compliance officer Marie-Noelle Savoie, Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan vice president Steve Tunison, and moderator Earle Hall, the chair of the International Gaming Standards Association. For another session, corporate affairs VP Pat Cook, and human resources VP Desiree Gervias will walk the audience through the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority model and how future First Nations/regulator revenue-sharing models may be adopted in other provinces.
If you haven’t ponied up for a ticket yet, our subscribers are receiving a $200 discount when using the code PARLEHPARTNERVIP to register.
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