P.E.I. Senator Supports Bill That Could Regulate Sports Betting Ads

Summary:

• The Senator has expressed support for a bill that would regulate sports betting ads
• Percy Downe expressed concern over “the impact on young people”.
• Wants to see restrictions on betting promotions similar to alcohol and tobacco.

Prince Edward Island Senator Percy Downe has expressed his support in favor of a bill that would force Ottawa to regulate advertisements aimed at promoting sports betting.

Senator Downe believes that companies that own mobile apps and single-sport gambling platforms should deal with the same type of harsh restrictions on ads like the ones that are currently employed for alcohol and tobacco products.

“They’re Simply Annoying” and “Trigger Addiction”

The Senator explained that while the majority of people watching sports betting ads usually find them “simply annoying”, for others, “they trigger addiction“.

Downe went on and voiced out his concern regarding the impact that the respective ads may have on “young people” given the fact that they “feature a lot of sports heroes, a lot of celebrities”.

The Senator explained youngsters “may be aspiring for that lifestyle”, thinking they could “make some easy money”

He also raised the question of whether they were “expanding the number of gamblers” and “growing the addiction problem in the future” by openly allowing these ads and not adding more rules and restrictions.

What Bill S-269 Could Include

Senator Marty Deacon, a representative of the Waterloo region in Ontario, introduced Bill S-269 as an Independent.

The Bill is meant to generate a national framework that would help regulate sports betting ads which, in Deacon’s opinion, have become “very attractive and addictive and sensational“.

The new rules in Deacon’s Bill could include a limitation or ban imposed on the use of athletes and celebrities in sports betting ads (similar to the UK and Dutch regulations), a limitation on the number of ads that are allowed to be played or shown in any given location, and/or a complete ban on ad broadcasting.

Bill S-269 passed a second reading in the Senate last week and it still needs to pass a third reading before it is sent back to the House of Commons, allowing the MPs to weigh in on it.