The regulator of sports betting sites in Canada's most populous province has put or is putting some new faces in charge, a leadership transition that comes as operators are waiting for guidance about the marketing rules in Ontario.
On Friday, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced Dave Forestell as the new chair of the board of directors for the regulator, which oversees legal sports betting and other forms of gambling in the province.
Forestell already sat on the AGCO board, in addition to chairing the board for iGaming Ontario, a government agency and AGCO subsidiary that is legally responsible for the competitive market for Ontario sports betting and internet casino gambling. However, a press release noted that Forestell stepped down from his iGO job to take over the AGCO position, with iGO now searching for a new chair of its board.
The appointment of Forestell, whose day job is vice president of external relations in Canada for pipeline and power company TC Energy Corp., came a few days after it was revealed that then-AGCO chair Lalit Aggarwal was resigning. The reason given was Aggarwal planned to spend more time with his family and focus on his business affairs after four years with the commission.
Still waiting
Furthermore, the recently announced changes to the AGCO's board follow the news earlier this year that the regulator's registrar and chief executive officer, Tom Mungham, will retire this fall. Aggarwal said in March that Mungham would continue in his roles while the board searched for his successor, who has yet to be named.
“To ensure a thorough and professional search for qualified candidates, the Board has engaged an executive search firm to support this undertaking,” Aggarwal said in a statement.
The changes atop the AGCO may explain, at least partly, why the agency has yet to finalize tweaks it floated earlier this year to the marketing rules for iGaming operators in the province. The AGCO announced in April that it was proposing to ban the use of athletes and certain celebrities in iGaming ads after identifying their presence as a potential risk to young people.
“Concern regarding the potential harmful impact on the most vulnerable population, underage persons, remains high,” the regulator said. “The AGCO is therefore proposing to prohibit the use of athletes as well as celebrities that can reasonably be expected to appeal to children and youth from internet gambling advertising and marketing in Ontario.”
As noted by @GamingNewsCA today, it's now been more than a month since one of Ontario's chief regulators said they were "weeks" away from a final decision on a proposed ban on using athletes and certain celebrities in ads for online sports betting and iGaming:…
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) July 18, 2023
After the deadline for the industry to comment was extended until May 15, Mungham said during a panel at the Canadian Gaming Summit in mid-June that a decision was just “weeks” away, not months. Since then, the final version of the new marketing standards has not been published.
Ontario is the only province in Canada that has opened a competitive market for online sports betting and internet casino gambling, allowing dozens of sites to legally take action from residents rather than just government-owned entities or other exclusive providers. The launch of Ontario’s new iGaming market in April 2022 prompted a burst of advertising by operators trying to catch the attention of bettors but also caused concern about increased gambling addiction and general annoyance about the marketing campaigns.
Nevertheless, billions of dollars are being wagered every month in Ontario’s regulated market via online sportsbooks, casinos, and poker rooms. With more than a year of experience under their belts, regulators have said they will continue to tweak the rules where necessary.
“Since the introduction in April 2022 of a new internet gaming market in Ontario, a key objective has been to create a safe, competitive, and well-regulated igaming environment for the people of Ontario,” the AGCO said in April of this year. “From the outset, the AGCO has indicated that it would assess and update the regulatory framework as the market evolves.”
