Indiana University's John Holden on policy surrounding sports betting ads as MPs push for ban

MPs in Ottawa are moving to curb widespread advertising for online gambling. It comes as CBC News learns of new, stark data surrounding the growing issue. A CBC investigation revealed this week that in Ontario, problem gambling has jumped and suicides tripled after the province opened its market to online casinos and sports betting. Next week, the Federal Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will need to vote on a bill that proposes to rein in those ads across the country. John Holden joins me now for a closer look at this He is an associate professor in the Department of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University He says more guidelines are needed in order to bring down these numbers John, thank you so much for making time for us Yeah, thank you so much for having me John, this is an investigation by CBC News that has discovered that gambling-related suicides have tripled in the province of Ontario since the province expanded private online casino games and sports betting back in 2022. What goes through your mind when you see these figures? Yeah, I mean, these are really concerning numbers. And CBC and Bristol University have done fantastic work sort of bringing these numbers to light because right now we don't have a ton of evidence. And this is really one of the first comprehensive studies that we've seen. Talk to me about, you know, I'm thinking about where do we see these ads, whether it's during sporting events, typically things that are, frankly, watched by a lot of young people, a lot of young men specifically. What makes these ads so effective at attracting people to gamble? You know, gambling ads, like other forms of advertising, has been studied for a long time. People are very good at convincing people to use products through advertising. You You know, one of the things with gambling ads is it's not just the advertisements themselves, it's ads that are on the rink themselves. They're on the outfield fence. So really, it's a constant exposure even while games are on. We know that the Federal Standing Committee meets next week to vote on a bill that could become a law that proposes to rein in gambling ads across the country. How effective do you think this measure would be? Well, you know, one of the things about this bill is that it doesn't actually impose standards itself as it essentially assigns the heritage minister to develop a national framework and implement standards down the road. So this is the first step in sort of reining in the gambling advertisement, at least at the national level. We saw Ontario take some small steps about a year ago. Talk to me about, you just mentioned some of those standards. I mean, we know that, as you said, I mean, this is what advertising firms are very good at, making online gambling and sports betting look very appealing. there are celebrities involved, sometimes famous athletes. It advertises a kind of a fun lifestyle. How difficult is it to legislate some sort of control of these advertisements or some sort of standards that people have to adhere to? You know, that's a great question. And I think a lot of people look to the UK because the UK grappled with this about a decade before us here in North America. And what happened was they introduced a combination of legislation as well as the industry took steps themselves. And so they did things like legislating that advertising can't target young people. And one of the ways that they measure that is looking at the following that athletes or celebrities have with young people and restricting ads where young people will be exposed to those messages. From your perspective, what more needs to be done other than maybe more akin to what the UK has done to rein in this exposure and bring down these numbers? Yeah, I think this is the great big question of what can be done. And, you know, the UK is really the country that many of us are looking to that study this. And, you know, some of the things that they've done that have proved to be somewhat effective are limiting advertising during sporting events and around sporting events. A lot of people are aware of the bans on jersey sponsorships in various soccer leagues across Europe. That's another step. But one of the things to consider as well is the types of promotions that are being offered by gambling companies, particularly some of these introductory inducements where individuals are offered, you know, large promotions to sign up for companies. John, thank you so much for this. A really interesting debate around something that's affecting so many Ontarians and so many families. Really appreciate your time. Thanks, Deanna. John Holden is an associate professor in the Department of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.