We can advertise the fuck out of Hard Liquor as a solution to a good/bad day; Politicians can flat-out lie in advertising. Celeb Sports betting Endorsements?? No Bueno.

Source: The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is officially tightening its restrictions on advertising, Ontario‘s iGaming regulator announced Tuesday.

Effective Feb. 28, 2024, iGaming operators will no longer be able to use current or former athletes, celebrities, social media influencers, and/or entertainers “who would likely be expected to appeal minors” in their advertising, unless that advertising pertains to responsible gambling messaging.

“Children and youth are heavily influenced by the athletes and celebrities they look up to,” said AGCO Registrar and CEO, Tom Mungham, in a press release. “We’re therefore increasing measures to protect Ontario’s youth by disallowing the use of these influential figures to promote online betting in Ontario.”

The AGCO said in its press release that it plans to “issue additional brief guidance in the coming weeks” on these new advertising standards to gambling operators in the province.

The announcement comes a few months after regulators announced at June’s Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto that a decision on an amendment to its advertising standards was just “weeks away.” With the start of the NFL season right around on the corner on Sept. 7, and the NHL and NBA seasons set to open their preseason camps in the coming weeks, many private iGaming operators have already solidified their marketing campaigns, although they knew these changes were likely coming.

“We’ll see how it all plays out, but we already have an idea of where this is headed,” one executive previously told Canada Sports Betting at the Summit. “Our marketing teams are already factoring in these proposed changes into our future plans. It’s unfortunate. A lot of time, energy, and money has been spent on these athlete brand ambassadors. But, we’ll obviously do what we have to in order to remain compliant with any changes to the advertising standards.”

The six-month grace period for operators to come into full compliance with the new advertising standards will potentially allow them to use their current brand ambassadors (athletes, celebrities, etc.) in all advertisement types for the remainder of the MLB and NFL seasons, and the majority of the NHL and NBA regular seasons.

How will Wayne Gretzky subsidize his income($43 million/year)? What will Connor McDavid do now he can’t collect MGM Sportsbook side hustle cash?

Whatever. Sportsbooks won’t have an issue getting me to take a four-team parlay now that Wayne isn’t telling me to do it.

I get both sides. It feels like a weird overreaction after the deluge of online gambling content from celebs and influencers, and it’s ambiguous as to what an influencer is in terms of how Ontario would deem you to be one. Like, if, say, a certain media company influenced you to bet on a game with, say, Fanduel. If Fanduel paid for it, would that be illegal?

What about online?  American Commercials? Can Gretzky still do MGM endorsements, but they are not in Canada? How do they filter that?  Kids are still going to see it. Every day between Baby Shark videos on YouTube, Jamie Foxx and Vanessa Hudgens will be poolside high-fiving on their phones.

Adults will still gamble, and gaming corps will still make their money, as will teams wearing betting/Casino logos…

This is a performative move from the government due to OTHER bad press. Yes, there are probably negative psychological consequences to seeing their heroes telling them it’s okay to take the over in the Bills game. Parents are supposed to be the ones who explain parlays and the dangers of poor moderation. Not Auston Mathews.