Denise Bombardier, my fellow columnist, is a fan of casinos.
In fact, she is what I would call a slot machine exegete and gambling specialist. Denise has also published a book proving her “science”, the jackpot, the joys and misery of gambling. You can’t accuse Denise of being a compulsive gambler. Oh ! NO. She still only makes short visits to the casinos. It moves from machine to machine, losing on one and winning on the other. If she wins any significant sum, she leaves Dare-Dare so that at the end of each year when she does her tally, she’s always a winner. At least that’s what she says.
That is not the lot of ordinary mortals. Casinos, whether online or brick and mortar, make a lot of money. We’re a long way from the days when players would gather in secret places called “Bullheads” or discreetly buy tickets to the Irish Sweepstakes. Lotteries and casinos abound today, and many of them are government-owned.
Stars become their spokespersons. I’m sure you hated Georges St-Pierre almost as much as I did when he polluted the sports airwaves with his Bet99 announcements. Lotteries, gambling and casinos have become as important TV advertising mediums as the most popular brands of cars and pickups.
IS IT STILL LEGAL?
No matter how hard I research, I can’t tell if online gaming ads are promoting businesses, all of which are legit. However, as far as I know, no TV station has been fined or even reprimanded by the CRTC for broadcasting messages about illegal casinos and lotteries.
So is gambling less addictive than alcoholic beverages, whose television advertising is strictly regulated? Last month, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the equivalent of our Liquor, Racing and Gaming Authority, opened the door to significant changes. The Commission has announced that it intends to ban casino and lottery advertising involving renowned athletes and personalities, artists, influencers and even cartoon characters.
For the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, the upcoming changes are far from enough. The center wants to ban all advertising for casinos and gambling on television, radio and online.
BILLIONS AND BILLIONS
In the first year that sports betting and online gambling were legalized, about one million Ontario residents bet $35.5 billion across 76 websites. That’s why we’re not asking for nothing that promotion should be banned five minutes before a game and up to five minutes after it. For the next season, Fox, NBC and the five major American sports leagues, including the National Hockey League, have announced that they will significantly reduce the number of advertising messages about gambling and lotteries. These messages are banned in the Netherlands, and Great Britain also wants to reduce them by the end of the year.
Georges St-Pierre never encouraged my friend Denise to play impulsively, but apparently that’s not the case for thousands of other players.
