Onslaught of sports betting ads make gambling seem enticing to youth, doctors say

Doctors are calling for restrictions on sports betting ads, saying they are setting youth up for a future of problem gambling.

An editorial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday says the ads are everywhere during sports broadcasts and the legalization of online gambling has made every smartphone a potential betting platform.

Editor Dr. Shannon Charlebois says even though betting sites say they're only for people 19 years of age and older, youth are being inundated with advertising that equates enjoying sports with betting.

She says child and teen brains are still developing and the constant exposure to gambling messages normalizes harmful behavior they can carry into adulthood.

Charlebois says a bill to regulate sports betting advertising has been introduced in the Senate and if passed, would be a good start to addressing the problem.

She would like to see gambling advertising restricted during games and removed from social media platforms used by youth.

"There's no limit on how many of these ads can be placed within a sports broadcast or how long they can be," Charlebois said in an interview, noting that in addition to commercials, the names of sports betting platforms are projected onto football fields and hockey rinks.

WATCH | Online gambling activity increased among B.C. youth, report finds:

A recent report from the McCreary Centre Society analyzed findings from the B.C. Adolescent Health Survey in 2023, which was completed by over 38,000 youth aged 12–18 in 59 of B.C.’s 60 school districts. Annie Smith, the report's co-author, said online gambling activity had increased among youth since the last survey in 2018.

Commentators for betting sites often have their own segments during breaks in the game.

"What's very dangerous about this for children is that it's normalizing a known harmful behaviour during an impressionable stage. And it's really appealing in particular to youth who are genetically, biologically predisposed to enjoy risk-taking," she said.

"I have seen people's lives fall apart at all ages, from all walks of life, whether it's an accountant with a career behind him, or a kid who's just looking to maximize his college fund who then had lost it all within a matter of a few weeks," said Charlebois, who is a family physician.

Dr. Shawn Kelly, an adolescent addiction specialist in Ottawa who co-wrote the editorial with Charlebois, said he mostly sees substance use among his patients, but he has started to screen for gambling behaviour because he believes it's an emerging issue.

He said gambling addiction still carries a lot of stigma, so people try to hide it and can be hesitant to seek treatment.

WATCH | Gambling ads poison the idea of sport, says former Olympian Bruce Kidd:

University of Toronto professor Bruce Kidd, a former track and field athlete and chair of a campaign to ban gambling advertisements, told CBC's On The Coast Monday that the advertisements poison the idea of sport and are addicting a growing number of people into very serious forms of psychological harm.

Legally requiring bettors to be adults is not always an effective deterrent, Kelly said.

"There are certain age restrictions and identity verification attempts that go into these (betting sites), but youth have been buying alcohol for a long time, despite the age restrictions around that -- and so where there is a motivated adolescent, a way will be found."

Even if ads aren't targeting youth, they still see them and are affected, said Kelly, who watches sports with his twin children.

"These ads are not directed at the nine-year-olds sitting with me, but they are picking up on it."]

WATCH | Has sports betting gone too far?

Since 2021, when federal legislation loosened up the rules around sports betting, Ontario has gone full throttle, creating what many have called a Wild West gambling environment. CBC’s Jamie Strashin explores how single-game betting has changed the game for some fans and why addiction experts are worried.