Canadian Lottery Coalition wants wagering ads be only in Ontario

The Canadian Lottery Coalition believes that since Ontario is the only province in Canada with certification, ads for sportsbooks should be limited to that province. According to a spokesperson of the Coalition, Marie-Noelle Savoie, they are constantly at war with all illegal activities. She is also the Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Safer Play & Enterprise Integrity of British Columbia Lottery Corporation. 

Certain certified operators in Ontario’s open and certified markets remain illegal gray market operators in closed provinces, which is what their grouse is. 

Based on Canadian sports betting news, certified sportsbooks in Ontario are allowed to be advertised everywhere and must comply with regulatory fees and taxes and with Ontario and Canada’s responsible gaming infrastructure. The Coalition feels it should be restricted only to certified markets as this decreases revenue if done otherwise. 

As per the coalition’s calculations, the uncertified markets in Canada are raking in over $1.8 billion yearly from certified gaming businesses. Through turning unregulated players into regulated ones, Ontario has been able to recoup its losses pertaining to revenue collection through iGaming and lottery. 

According to the figures introduced by iGaming Ontario, Ontario’s open market managed to collect $2.4 billion in revenue via non-OLG iGaming operators, an increase of 71.4%. 

In the observation of Rogers Sports & Media, all advertisements related to sportsbooks certified in Ontario have the tag Ontario only. However, in the case of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, there is no such requirement.

A study conducted by Maru observed that 66% of people reached out to feel sports wagering advertisements need to be banned while live sports are on, whereas 59% felt that there should be no advertising. The idea is to safeguard youngsters. 

There is Bill S-269, which aims to form a nationwide standard related to sports wagering advertisements, as with tobacco and alcohol businesses.