Sports betting is strangling the beauty of sport

Bruce Kidd is a professor emeritus of sports policy at the University of Toronto and a former Canadian Olympian.

Since the federal government officially lifted the ban on single-game sports betting in 2021, allowing provinces to legalize it in their jurisdictions, watching sports on TV is like being in a casino. It's not just wall-to-wall ads; it is also the feeling that the entire sports media complex has become a facilitator.

Professional leagues, such as the NBA and NHL, now support betting, even entering into formal agreements with "official sports betting partners." Team ownership groups like Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and news organizations like The Sports Network (TSN) have also partnered with sports betting. Current stars like the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews and iconic 안전 토토사이트 legends like Wayne Gretzky have been paid to advertise with betting companies, and the broadcasters discuss their picks and share other gambling information. Even the fine print reminders to gamble 'responsibly' reinforce the message that sport has become primarily a vehicle for betting. 

It is as if athletes and coaches are training, strategizing and competing for the sole purpose of providing options for the global gaming industry, with corporate profits taking precedence over people's mental health. It's terribly wrong. It is too early to have concrete data on the number of Canadians who have developed sports betting addiction disorders since its legalization and the advent of advertising in the sector. But we know that gambling in general can be harmful. Last year, Statistics Canada reported that 1.6 percent of Canadians ages 15 and older who gambled in 2017, or about 304,400 Canadians, were at moderate to high risk of gambling disorders. gambling, including mental health problems, losing money to the point of debt. and jeopardizing intimate relationships.

What worries me most is how television advertising is instilling sports betting in young Canadians, instead of fostering an appreciation of sports through the beauty of skilled athletes doing their best, the drama of a hard-fought match, and the shared joy of be among peers. fan. An estimated 10 per cent of TV sports audiences are under the age of 18 and the Australian Center for Gambling Research reported that 'Research on advertising of other harmful products suggests that advertising increases recruitment and consumption , especially in the adolescent initiation market”.

And at a time when Canada already faces greater challenges in providing accessible and rewarding sporting opportunities for children and youth to participate in, highly publicized sports betting poisons the meaning of sport. Today's message is that the joy of sport comes only from placing a winning bet, not from playing. The industry itself cannot be criminalized again, of course; that would only bring him back into hiding. But Canada should strictly regulate all sports betting advertising on television and other media, just as it does for alcohol and tobacco advertising. This would discourage further growth in gambling for the same reasons that previous governments wisely limited the advertising of other substances: its promotion contributes to harmful addictions and serious health and social problems.

Canada should also increase regulation of sports teams' association with gaming companies, to protect the integrity of the sport. Given the increasingly fluid connections between teams, players, match officials, pitchside fans, media companies and betting organisations, there are endless possibilities for inside influence, especially when a significant amount of betting is not on the line. fund, but on certain events. 

and specific achievements in the game or stage stakes. Players like the NFL's Calvin Ridley have already been found in violation of the rules, bringing the integrity of the game into question. Indeed, Canadian political scientist Declan Hill, who has studied match-fixing in soccer and tennis, has argued that even with league control and impenetrable firewalls, match-fixing is nearly impossible to stop 토토사이트. What happens when there is no apparent distance between the players and the game? Many European countries ban sports betting advertising to minors, which generally means that ads cannot be shown in places frequented by children on a regular basis or on late night television. In Italy, television advertising of sports bets is totally prohibited. In Australia, there is a national office responsible for overseeing sports betting.

But companies should also step forward. Several years ago, Bell Canada started a "Let's Talk" campaign to promote mental health awareness.