Broadcast executives say the outcry over an advertising barrage by online sports betting sites has died down in Ontario, and so has the volume of commercials for “free-to-play” platforms by operators doing business outside the Canadian province’s regulated iGaming market.
The decline in .net ads and advertising-related complaints was voiced last week during a panel at a Canadian Gaming Association event in Toronto, held on the first anniversary of Ontario launching a competitive market for legal sports betting and online casino gambling. Ontario sports betting is now offered by more than 30 regulated sites in Canada’s most populous province.
But, in general, the amount of advertising dedicated to online gambling is relatively small, according to figures floated by Catherine MacLeod, president and CEO of thinkTV, a marketing and research association that reviews ads to ensure they comply with regulations. MacLeod told the CGA audience that they screened 347 gambling ads last year, around 1% of thinkTV’s total workload of approximately 33,000 commercials.
Furthermore, in the past, MacLeod said around 2% to 4% of ads they would clear were for “free-to-play” or .net gaming sites, which may be associated with real-money sites that are operated by companies not regulated in Canada. In 2022 and thus far in 2023, those ads represent less than 0.2% of what thinkTV has cleared.
“So the regulated market is definitely making a difference,” MacLeod said.
Recent polling commissioned by the @Ont_AGCO and @iGamingOntario shows percentage of provincial gamblers exclusively using unregulated sites is down to ~15%. Before competitive market launched, gov't estimated ~70% of online gambling was on "grey" sites.https://t.co/LaXZyo64jQ pic.twitter.com/LSQrTvUXmt
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) April 4, 2023
Ontario’s launch of a regulated market for internet gambling triggered an explosion of advertising by sportsbook operators seeking to grab the attention of potential customers. Operators also occupied broadcasting real estate by sponsoring segments before and during games.
While the burst of promotion prompted irritation among some viewers, it also allowed operators to introduce themselves to Ontarians and advise them about legal sports betting options in the province. That was important in a market in which “grey” operators had a strong foothold, even though they were not regulated by the province. Those unregulated operators still exist, albeit to a lesser extent.
Moreover, the CGA event heard there was less annoyance than you might think. Sportsnet-owner Rogers Communications Inc. gets thousands of comments from viewers every year, and a sliver is about gaming ads, according to Alan Dark, senior vice president of revenue at Rogers Sports and Media.
“We got substantially less feedback about this specific category, and 70% of that feedback that we've had in the last year came within the first two, three months of launch,” Dark said. “Since that point, it's down to tens of comments on a monthly basis.”
Dark also said Rogers does not accept .net ads in other parts of Canada, which is mostly because of the relationships struck by the broadcaster with the onset of Ontario’s regulated market.
A balancing act
Stewart Johnston, senior vice president of sales and sports for TSN-owner Bell Media, which has a partnership with FanDuel, said they had received fewer than 35 complaints about the gaming ads in the first year of the iGaming market.
Sportsnet and TSN have put caps on the amount of gambling-related advertising they’ll show to viewers. However, there are still feeds they use from U.S.-based networks, which the Canadian broadcasters can’t control and which may have betting content. There could also be sportsbook advertising in an arena or stadium during a game that the broadcasters can't block out.
“We're very aware that there… needs to be a balance and there can be too much,” Johnston said during the panel discussion.
