CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has urged Parliament to allow professional sports leagues to self-regulate gambling promotions, arguing that federal controls are unnecessary. Blacklock's Reporter says in a letter to senators, the Canadian Football League expressed its opposition to a proposed national framework for regulating sports betting advertising.“We do not agree a national framework is required to regulate the advertising of sports betting in Canada,” Ambrosie wrote to the Senate transport and communications committee, which is currently studying Bill S-269, An Act Respecting A National Framework On Advertising For Sports Betting.“We strongly believe the measures we and other sports leagues have put in place support our contention that a national framework as envisioned in Bill S-269 is not necessary. Having said that, we do not claim perfection on this or any other issue. We recognize in all we do we must remain open-minded and continue to learn and evolve.”Bill S-269 would require the Minister of Canadian Heritage to draft a “national framework for regulation of advertising of sports betting” and immediately ban endorsements by “celebrities and athletes in the promotion of sports betting.”In 2021, Parliament passed Bill C-218, An Act To Amend The Criminal Code, repealing an 1892 ban on single-event sports betting. Ontario became the first province to license bookmakers, leading to a significant increase in gambling revenues. According to the I-Gaming Ontario agency, wagers now total $63 billion a year, surpassing casino revenues, with 77 licensed gaming websites and 1.3 million player accounts.The CFL supported the 2021 legalization of single-event sports betting with the condition that players, coaches, and officials be prohibited from placing bets. “The integrity of competition means everything to us,” Commissioner Ambrosie told the Commons justice committee at the time.Some senators, who initially voted to legalize single-event gambling, are now advocating for new legal restrictions on marketing. “I had a hope that by making single game betting legal we’d see some work to address its harms as well,” Sen. Marty Deacon (Ont.), sponsor of Bill S-269, told the Senate. “That has not happened. I did not anticipate the level of promotion that we’re seeing, potentially creating a generation of problem gamblers.”“Do I regret my vote? I still do not, not yet anyway. We can still correct our course.”In response to concerns, Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission amended its regulations on February 28 to prohibit “active or retired athletes” from endorsing gambling. The regulations also banned the use of “cartoon figures, symbols, role models, social media influencers, celebrities, or entertainers who would likely be expected to appeal to minors.”
