In a new study conducted by the Canada Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in collaboration with the University of Bristol, it was found that sports fans watching hockey and NBA in Ontario are exposed to sports betting branding and marketing during 20 percent of broadcasts.
The CBC study, led by Dr. Raffaello Rossi and Dr. Jamie Wheaton at the University of Bristol, analyzed five NHL games and two NBA games that aired from October 25-29. In addition to analyzing the broadcasts themselves, the researchers also examined the online activity of 10 sports betting operators.
The study found that across social media and broadcast platforms, a total of 4,119 messages related to sports betting were logged. These messages included on-air references to betting, posts from the social media accounts of operators, and instances where the sports betting logos appeared on screen. Interestingly, logo presence accounted for nearly 94 percent of the logged messages, indicating that on-court logos were the primary form of advertising.
“The total duration of gambling messages being shown on TV averaged 39.8 minutes per match broadcast, including studio discussions,” Dr. Wheaton said. “In other words, every hour of coverage included an average of 13 minutes that contained a gambling message.”
However, the study expressed concern about the lack of responsible gambling messaging or age-gating in the logged messages. Only 2.6 percent of the messages contained responsible gambling messaging, while the remaining messages focused on promotional content. The doctors said this raises questions about the compliance of these social media posts with the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards regulations.
Dr. Rossi emphasizes the need for stronger regulations to protect consumers, especially children who are vulnerable to such marketing strategies
“There is an urgent need to strengthen regulations to protect consumers – in particular children, who are especially vulnerable to such sneaky advertising techniques,” Dr. Rossi said.
The issue of advertising in the sports betting industry has been a topic of discussion in Canada. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) have been actively working to improve and implement industry-wide guidelines. In August, the AGCO released updated advertising guidelines that prohibit athletes and celebrities who could appeal to children from promoting online gambling.
The new regulations are set to go live on February 28 and aim to provide additional context and restrictions on advertising practices. While these regulations will have an impact on the numbers reported in the CBC study, there are still challenges posed by partnerships between operators and individual teams that extend beyond the Ontario market, such as on-court and in-rink logos.
