The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ.ca) has called out the fact that sports betting commercials and advertisements are causing harm to young people by normalizing the harmful activity of betting and gambling on professional sports.
“Sports betting advertisements are seen on player jerseys and digitally projected onto playing areas, and commentator segments are sponsored by betting platforms," said the CMAJ commentary.
"Such advertising insidiously normalizes a harmful activity, and children are being exposed, to their detriment. Despite official age restrictions for participating in gambling and using betting platforms, Canada’s youth are being harmed," said the article.
The commentary said sports betting can eventually be connected with risks of suicide, substance use disorders, crime and broader social harms.
Sports betting, outside of horse racing, was once considered a racket where mobsters took a percentage of the betting action. In most jurisdictions it was illegal. In 2022, Ontario became the first province in Canada to legalize sports betting.
The CMAJ commentary said even before single-game sports betting was legalized, a 2019 survey of 14,142 Ontario Grade 7–12 students showed that about four per cent of Ontario high school students reported symptoms of low to moderately severe gambling problems (the urge to gamble despite negative consequences), and about two per cent reported behaviour consistent with gambling addiction.
"In a 2018 poll, 15 per cent of Canadians aged 18–24 years endorsed problem gambling, compared with seven per cent in the general population. The problem is not unique to Canada. The United Kingdom’s 2024 Young People and Gambling study found that 1.5 per cent of UK children aged 11–17 years were experiencing problem gambling and that an additional 1.9 per cent were at risk," said the article.
"The legalization of online gambling (iGaming) in Ontario in 2022 turned any smartphone into a betting platform, compounding existing epidemics of technology and social media use addiction. Although youth are theoretically banned from iGaming, advertising influences young people to start gambling and to gamble more, and it likely makes recovery from problem gambling more difficult," said the article.
Recognizing that youth are particularly vulnerable to the messaging of betting as an augmentation of spectatorship, in 2024 the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario banned online gambling ads that feature athletes and celebrities, said the commentary.
It further reported that warnings to act responsibly with online gaming have been ineffective.
The article further suggested that Ontario, through the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, also has been ineffective in curtailing advertising, especially since the province took in more than $1.4 billion in the first three years of legalized online gambling.
"Allowing glaring and ubiquitous promotion of sports betting is a wilful mortgage of Canada’s future to the interests of private profit and tax revenue. Canadian jurisdictions should act to eliminate all commercials that promote sports betting during broadcasts where minors are likely to see them," said the commentary.
The full text version of the CMAJ commentary can be found online here.