Canada Senator Seeking National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising
Canadian senator Martha Deacon is drawing on her first role in sport - assistant bton coach - as her bill on sports betting advertising is batted back and forth.
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Deacon, who was also a Chef de Mission and then a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, recently brought her bill, “An Act respecting a national framework on sports betting advertising,” back to the Senate for the second time.
The first time the bill came before Canadian lawmakers, it garnered plenty of debate, but it died on the order paper when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned and Parliament was prorogued.
If ed by both Houses, the bill would establish a national framework for sports betting ads in Canada.
Second Time Around
Multiple hearings on the issue were held in the summer and fall of 2023, and Deacon said at the time, “Let’s start with what this legislation won’t do. It will not ban gambling ads completely … What this bill would do instead is require the Minister of Canadian Heritage to develop a national framework on the advertising of sports betting.”
That might mean the government controls how many sports betting ads can run, when they can run, and who can be in them.
Representatives of the sports gambling industry say the number of ads is already in decline. For example, the researcher ThinkTV reported it monitored 28,000 ads in 2024 and just 189 were related to gambling, down from 442 in 2022.
Opponents of the proposed legislation include the NHL.
Looking at the Ontario example
Bettors in Ontario, the only province in Canada where gaming is regulated, play in the presence of stringent advertising guidelines that, for example, ban the use of celebrities and athletes.
Multiple operators were fined for flagrantly flouting the rules, put in place in conjunction with the launch of legal online gambling in April 2022.
Alberta, where industry lobbyists have taken up residence, advertising is among the topics being discussed.
Back in Ottawa, Senator Deacon was “disappointed to be back here at square one,” as she introduced Bill S-211 for second reading.
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The saturation of ads was an issue that should have been dealt with from the start. 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. –Senator Martha Deacon |
Full ban not realistic
Deacon’s bill would require the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review its regulations and policies to assess how effective they would be in preventing harms associated with sports betting advertising.
The senator has itted her initial goal of banning gambling commercials altogether “could lead to years of court battles.”
Instead, she proposes things like a ban on gambling ads from five minutes before the start of sporting events until five minutes after a game, or disallowing advertising until 9 p.m., measures she calls “a start.”
Deacon said she hopes the Senate es her bill “expeditiously,” so it can be forwarded to the House of Commons for further debate.
