When the Alcohol and Gambling Commission of Ontario announced last summer that it would introduce new advertising standards for online gambling to protect minors, headlines promised that the flood of sports betting and casino ads featuring celebrities and athletes that annoyed TV viewers , it will dry quickly.
But the fine print written in the new regulations, which were clarified by the AGCO earlier this month before they come into force on Wednesday, suggests viewers are still likely to see Jamie Foxx shilling for BetMGM, Auston Matthews as brand ambassador for Bet99 and former NHLer Kevin Bieksa stands atop the Sports Interaction logo as betting lines flash on screen during Sportsnet’s weekly broadcasts before Hockey night in Canada.
Even Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid, who have spent the last year sizzling at each other in BetMGM commercials, may not be completely gone.
Meanwhile, some in the industry believe the changes may not even have been necessary.
The new advertising standards stem from an announcement made by the AGCO last April that, after a year of regulated gambling in Ontario, the agency is concerned about marketing that could lure individuals under the legal gambling age of 19. The commission is considering banning the use of athletes, celebrities, cartoons and influencers who appeal to minors.
After several months of consultation with industry players and others, including mental health professionals, the commission announced the changes last August with a blog post on its website that read: “AGCO to ban athletes from advertising at Ontario games to protect minors .”
In fact, the new standards were not so black and white.
The new restrictions prevent active or retired athletes from appearing in most conventional ads – but AGCO made an exception for what are known as “responsible gambling” promotional spots, in which sportsbooks or casino operators urge consumers to gamble within its limitations. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, for example, released a TV spot featuring Curtis Joseph in support of the company’s PlaySmart responsible gambling tools, in which the narrator praises the former Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender for the way he “always played prepared.”
BetMGM may choose to re-sign Gretzky and McDavid as ambassadors for their responsible gambling efforts. (A company spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.) Bet99 could also use Matthews or Georges St-Pierre, another ambassador, for similar initiatives. (A spokesman for that company did not respond to requests for comment.)
And AGCO also signaled Tuesday that sportsbooks may continue to use current or former athletes in certain types of other promotional efforts that have nothing to do with responsible gambling.
Last April, shortly before AGCO announced it was looking to change its advertising standards, FanDuel and Bell Media’s TSN struck a deal that saw the sportsbook become the presenting sponsor of the network’s afternoon radio and television programming Overdrive. This program is co-hosted by Jeff O’Neill, who played 11 seasons in the NHL.
A spokesman for TSN, which is owned by Bell Media, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Through a spokesperson, FanDuel declined to comment.
Sportsnet also has a commercial deal with a sportsbook for editorial coverage. Under one of these agreements, Sports Interaction currently sponsors a segment of Hockey Central Saturdaythe half-hour pre-show that airs before Hockey night in Canadain which ex-pro Bieksa, who played 13 seasons in the NHL, previews a game scheduled for tonight while surrounded by the sportsbook’s logo and live betting odds provided by the sportsbook appear on the screen.
Sportsnet spokesman Jason Jackson said in an email that the network “will continue to follow the rules and standards set by iGaming Ontario and the Liquor and Gaming Commission of Ontario.”
In fact, AGCO told The Globe and Mail in an email that those kinds of arrangements would remain acceptable. “The updated standards do not intend to film athletes who are used in broadcasts or podcasts for editorial content or commentary … or commentary on sports betting, provided they do not do so under an agreement with [sportsbook] operator,” said the email from Raymond Kannert, senior communications adviser at AGCO.
“The standards do not prohibit broadcasters from sponsoring segments in broadcast programs.”
The new regulations do prohibit casinos or sportsbooks from using “animated figures, symbols, role models, social media influencers, celebrities or entertainers likely to appeal to minors” in advertising.
But that language, and its focus on the likelihood that an individual will appeal to a younger demographic, offers enough wiggle room that even advocates of greater restrictions on ad recognition are likely to help protect minors.
“Anything can appeal to some kids,” said Nigel Turner, an independent scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. “But someone like Jamie Foxx — I don’t know what his following is among the youth, but he’s primarily a comedian who has an adult following.”
As the changes go into effect, some segments of the industry aren’t even convinced they’re solving an actual problem that exists.
“We don’t think there was an issue that needed to be addressed,” said Paul Burns, president and chief executive of the Canadian Gaming Association, a trade group that represents licensed operators. Burns suggests that members of the public who oppose the ads have mostly reacted to the volume of TV clips, which he says have declined since the initial flurry of activity when dozens of broadcasters tried to grab market share seamlessly.
“We have seen, in Hockey night in Canada and major sports, possibly a drop of up to 30 percent” in the number of online gambling ads from fall 2022 to fall 2023, he said.
This data cannot be confirmed immediately.
