Canadian Senator's Anti-Sports Betting Ad Bill Off To Committee
Canada's chamber of sober reservation will take another hard look at imposing across the country limitations on online sportsbook marketing.
- Legislation proposing to put nationwide limitations on advertising for online sportsbooks is making progress in Canada's Senate.
- The bill, similar to one that made progress in 2015, would determine methods to restrict sportsbook advertisements, instead of banning them outright.
- S-211 is now headed to the Senate's transportation and interactions committee for further study.
Ontario Sen. Marty Deacon's Bill S-211, the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, received its second reading last Thursday and was referred to the chamber's Standing Committee on Transport and Communications.
While Deacon has stated an overall restriction on ads was her "preliminary goal, technique and dream," legal concerns about whether the possible damage of marketing mobile sports wagering approaches something like that of tobacco triggered a more nuanced technique with the legislation.
Zero chill (presumably)
Even so, the proposed law would require the federal government to craft Canada-wide restrictions for the marketing of online sportsbooks, consisting of methods that the amount of such advertising might be limited.
"I don't think it's hyperbole to say that today in Canada, it is impossible to watch a sporting event without being encouraged to gamble at minutes," Deacon stated on June 3.
S-211 is basically the exact same as Bill S-269, which passed the appointed Senate last November and was waiting for action in the elected House of Commons before a federal election cleaned the legal slate clean.
Both expenses remain in action to the marketing for online sports wagering Canada sites that has been tossed at citizens following the decriminalization of single-game sports betting in 2021 and Ontario's launch of a competitive iGaming market in 2022.
You missed out on a spot
Senators who were encouraging of single-game wagering, such as Deacon, are now trying to fix what they see as an oversight to that choice.
"The saturation of advertisements ... was a problem that must have been dealt with from the start," Deacon stated. "For example, Bill C-45, the expense that legalized marijuana, had an arrangement that banned advertising outright. I regret something similar was not consisted of when single-sports betting was legislated."
Whether S-211 gets the exact same support as S-269 in the Senate remains to be seen, however it looks extremely possible. First, though, S-211 should head to committee for more study.
It was at the committee level in 2015 that the dispute about S-269 truly heated up. Supporters advised senators on and opponents alerted about over-regulation and unintended effects, such as curbing efforts to fight the "grey market" of online sports betting.
Another action toward a competitive iGaming market in another Canadian province: https://t.co/iW3XIoP6sP
It's most likely a comparable dispute breaks out this time around. It will also play out as Alberta is preparing to launch an Ontario-like market for online sports wagering and web gambling establishment gambling, the advertising rules for which have yet to be set.
The Alberta sports wagering launch, either late this year or early next, could trigger another burst of marketing by private-sector operators to win market share in the Western Canadian province. That could trigger complaints similar to the ones heard when Ontario released its market in April 2022, ending up being the very first province to allow private operators to take bets.
"As all of us understand, there is a restored sense of provincial and federal cooperation as we face an ever-changing geopolitical landscape," Deacon said. "Cooperation is in the air with federal leadership at the fore.