Ontario‘s legal iGaming market is set to launch in early April. Ahead of the start date, regulators held a webinar on March 8, laying out their rules on advertising and marketing, and union leaders raised concerns about possible job losses in the retail sector.
Webinar speakers included Paul Burns of the Canadian Gaming Association and representatives of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO). The latter government agencies will oversee the regulation of iGaming in the province.
According to SportHandle, the “general takeaway from the webinar,” which drew more than 600 participants, is that “the onus is on private operators to interpret and use their judgment regarding AGCO advertising guidelines.” Regulators will not approve or validate advertising and marketing materials before they go live, but will follow up with operators if they have concerns.
“Our job isn’t to find loopholes and to close the loopholes—our job is to communicate intent and objectives and for the industry to act in a compliant way,” said Jay Welbourn, AGCO’s senior manager of technology and compliance. “It’s not our objective at all to become an approval body for all the advertisements.”
Here are the basics:
- Minors, self-excluded individuals and high-risk players should not be targeted in any iGaming advertising
- Responsible gaming messages must be included in all advertising, and the iGO logo must be displayed on all websites, advertising channels and social media
- Operators can’t use public advertising to promote bonuses
- Players must consent to receive deposit, signup, or bonus offer information
- Advertising must not appear on billboards or other outdoor displays close to schools
- Advertising may not use cartoon figures, symbols, role models, and/or celebrity/entertainer endorsers whose primary appeal is to minors, or use young-looking actors in their campaigns
- Gaming advertising is prohibited on websites and other online media directed primarily to minors
- Advertising may not exploit the susceptibilities, aspirations, credulity, inexperience or lack of knowledge of all potentially high-risk persons, or otherwise extoll the virtues of gaming
- Providers must strive to limit marketing communications to known high-risk players
- Advertisers must not represent gambling as a way to recover financial losses, or present winning as the probable outcome
The launch of a regulated market in Ontario is expected to shift consumers to legal providers, but .net advertising will still be legal under the Canadian Consumer Protection Act. “If [gray market advertising] continues, we may request to repeal the law if we think it’s necessary. If it’s being used to circumvent the marketplace, we’ll continue to monitor that issue,” Burns said.
Some U.S. regulators, problem-gambling experts and even bettors have complained about too much advertising, especially when new markets open up. In Ontario, there are no limits on the volume of sports betting advertising. BetRivers and PointsBet are already running ads across cable networks in the province. BetRivers is using former TSN Sportscentre broadcaster Dan O’ Toole as its brand ambassador, and PointsBet recently aired a commercial with the Trailer Park Boys, characters in a Canadian mockumentary television series. Meanwhile, gray-market sportsbooks Bet99, Bet365 and others have been running ads across cable TV networks and in other media for years in Ontario and Canada.
“Volume can be an issue,” AGCO’s Welbourn said. “We understand that new entrants to the market need advertising, need to get their name out there. There’s a real tension here. We need to think about the broader, public perception, and making sure we’re staying within that kind of acceptable range with brand advertising.”
Catherine MacLeod, president and CEO of broadcaster thinkTV Canada, told webinar participants the network is “working with Responsible Gaming and AGCO and iGO to come to the right spot on this. It’s about our viewers, it’s about reducing the harm.”
AGCO has issued six iGaming licenses in Ontario, to Annexio Ltd. (lottogo.ca); NSUS Ltd. (wsop.ca); PointsBet Canada; theScore Bet; Rivalry Corp.’ and VHL Ltd. (888.ca). Other sportsbooks such as FansUnite have been approved or will be approved prior to the April 4 launch.
Signup bonuses for online casinos will follow all the same rules. “There’s one set of regulatory standards that covers both sports and casino gambling,” Burns said.
Meanwhile, union leaders are looking to the provincial government to ensure casino jobs and revenues at land-based locations such as Caesars Windsor remain protected, according to MSN.
A recent study showed that up to 25 percent of casino jobs may eventually be lost once internet gaming is legalized. At Caesars Windsor, that could mean 100 of 500 gaming-related jobs could be lost.
“We are looking at significant job losses and (an) unfair playing field,” said Chris MacDonald, assistant to Unifor’s national President Jerry Dias.
Ontario Chamber of Commerce President Rocco Rossi raised his concerns about iGaming in a letter to Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey. “Ontario’s approach may come at the expense of current revenue and employment sources our communities depend on,” he wrote.
Critics point out that the government will charge a 20 percent “tax” on all revenue from each online gaming business, while land-based casinos pay more than 50 percent.
Rossi called on the government to “minimize local job losses” and introduce iGaming in a way that will increase jobs in the gaming sector. He called for a “competitive tax rate” for gaming companies that “is fair to land-based casinos.”
“Ontario is not the first jurisdiction in North America to legalize iGaming,” said Rossi in his letter. “Every U.S. state that has introduced iGaming has done so in a coordinated manner with existing land-based casinos.”
Local MPP Percy Hatfield added, “In a good year, we have about 10,000 people working in Ontario’s gaming sector. Covid-19 has left half of the casino workers in Niagara Falls out of work, at Woodbine there are still 500 casino workers laid off and we have 1,000 still unemployed in Windsor.”
“We are trying to get people’s attention to this,” he said. “(The plan) should be adjusted to make the bricks-and-mortar (casinos) more competitive. We would like to see the start date changed and a commitment from (the Finance Ministry) to take a closer look at this than they have so far.”
BetRivers Canada is offering the chance to try out their sportsbook and casino for free with play for fun options. PointsBet Canada has hired Canadian cultural icons the Trailer Park Boys to serve as their brand ambassadors.
BetMGM Canada has named the Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid as their brand ambassador.
