Ottawa must parlay sports gambling boom into addiction supports

I watch a lot of sports on television, mostly hockey, baseball and football. And it’s getting harder to watch a game without being bombarded with gambling advertisements.

The betting industry hasn’t just bought commercial time. It has woven itself into the broadcasts, becoming part of the game itself.

Gambling logos plaster the boards around hockey rinks, appear on players’ jerseys and helmets, and pop up during commercial breaks. Broadcasters talk about betting odds, promote wagers and remind viewers how they can put money on the action unfolding in front of them.

It doesn’t affect me personally. I don’t gamble. But I think it’s ruining sports broadcasts. What was once about enjoying a game has increasingly become an opportunity to sell viewers another way to lose their money.

That, however, is the least important part of the problem.

The bigger concern is that governments are allowing the gambling industry to promote its products so aggressively that betting is becoming a normalized part of everyday life. For people vulnerable to addiction, that can have devastating consequences. Ottawa’s move to curb gambling advertising is long overdue.

Federal MPs are considering Bill S-211, proposed legislation that has already passed the Senate and would establish a national framework for regulating sports betting advertisements. The House of Commons standing committee on Canadian heritage is scheduled to consider the bill, which calls on the federal government to consult on stronger advertising standards.

It’s a modest proposal, but an important one. Canada needs to get serious about the public-health consequences of online gambling and stop treating the industry’s relentless marketing as just another harmless commercial enterprise.

The scale of the advertising is staggering. A recent analysis conducted for CBC News, in partnership with researchers at the University of Bristol, examined seven televised NHL playoff games featuring Canadian teams. Researchers counted about 3,000 gambling messages across those broadcasts — roughly two to three every minute.

About 95 per cent of those instances contained no information about harm reduction or age restrictions.

And these weren’t all conventional commercials that viewers could ignore or mute. The messages appeared on rink boards, jerseys, helmets and other prominent places throughout the games. They were part of the sporting spectacle itself.

That kind of exposure matters. It makes betting look ordinary, even glamorous, particularly when professional athletes, celebrities and sports personalities are associated with gambling brands.

Young people watching their favourite teams are repeatedly exposed to the message that wagering is simply another way to enjoy sports. The excitement of a goal, touchdown or home run becomes an invitation to place a bet.

The industry isn’t merely advertising a product. It’s attempting to build gambling into the culture of sports.

Governments should be asking whether that’s something they really want to encourage.

The consequences of problem gambling are hardly theoretical. People can lose their savings, homes and livelihoods. Families can be torn apart. Gambling addiction can contribute to serious mental-health problems and, in the most tragic cases, suicide.

We don’t need to prove that every gambling advertisement causes addiction before recognizing that an industry selling a potentially addictive product shouldn’t have unrestricted access to the public.

Canada already recognizes this principle in other areas. Tobacco advertising is heavily restricted because smoking causes serious harm. Alcohol advertising is subject to rules because excessive consumption can damage lives. Online gambling deserves a similarly serious approach.

That doesn’t necessarily mean banning every advertisement for every legal gambling product. But it does mean establishing sensible limits on where, when and how these products can be promoted.

Bill S-211 could be a starting point for restrictions on gambling sponsorships during live sporting events, advertisements on sportswear, promotions during certain hours and the use of celebrities and athletes to endorse betting companies.

Ottawa should pursue those measures through a meaningful national framework, with clear rules and effective enforcement. It should also require more prominent warnings about gambling risks and better monitoring of addiction-related harms.

The industry will argue that advertising directs customers toward regulated operators, where consumer protections are stronger than on unregulated websites. There’s some merit to ensuring consumers can distinguish legal operators from illegal ones.

But that argument doesn’t justify the sheer volume of advertising now confronting viewers. There is a difference between informing adults about legal services and saturating sports broadcasts with promotional messages designed to make gambling seem indispensable to the entertainment experience.

There will always be adults who choose to gamble, and governments shouldn’t pretend they can eliminate every risk. But personal responsibility isn’t an excuse for public policy that allows a potentially addictive product to be marketed relentlessly, including to audiences that contain young and vulnerable people.

If I have to watch another gambling commercial during a hockey game, I’ll survive. That’s not the point. The people who are losing their savings, damaging their families and struggling with addiction may not be so fortunate.

tom.brodbeck@winnipegfreepress.com