OPINION: Alarm sounds on sports gambling. Viewers as young as 10 are hooked on more than 80 betting sites that proliferate on game broadcasts
Ontario's sports broadcasts are saturated with gambling ads, hooking viewers as young as 10 and causing a surge in addiction and emergency visits.Summary
In this opinion piece, Ian Pattison warns that sports gambling advertising during Ontario sports broadcasts is out of control, with about three gambling messages per minute filling 20 per cent of airtime. The province now hosts more than 80 betting sites run by over 40 private companies, following the legalization of single-event sports betting in 2021 and Ontario's choice to license a competitive market. This proliferation has led to serious harms, especially among young males: emergency department visits for gambling disorders rose 31.3 per cent overall, with a 154 per cent increase among males aged 10-29 and a 317 per cent rise in gambling-related helpline calls among males aged 15-24. Student sports betting has jumped from 1 in 100 in 2017 to 1 in 10 in 2025, and nearly one in four students see gambling ads daily. The author argues that self-regulation by gambling corporations is ineffective and calls for real oversight, including limits on ads, mandatory risk warnings, enforced breaks, and spending limits.
(Source：The Chronicle-journal)