Canadian Gaming Association chief talks Bill S-269, advertising, and, of course, Alberta

The Senate Committee on Transport and Communications resumed hearing from witnesses at the beginning of October with the proposed Bill-269 to create a national framework for advertising on sports betting. Among the folks making the trek to the nation’s capital to appear in front of the committee was Canadian Gaming Association grand poobah Paul Burns. Burns returned to the Gaming News Canada Show to discuss his appearance in Ottawa, and the continued evolution of advertising in Ontario’s regulated sports betting and online gaming marketplace. From Tom Nightingale’s reporting in Canadian Gaming Business: Burns had argued in his opening statement that he doesn’t believe S-269 is necessary, as most of what the bill aims to do is already being done. In particular, he pointed to Ontario’s advertising restrictions and stipulations around responsible gaming messaging, noting that anecdotally, Ontario has seen a far higher uptake of RG messaging and practical tools than operators are legally required to offer. “There’s been a lot of emotional discussion about gaming advertising over the last couple of years because people have seen more of it,” noted Burns. “But there’s also been some absence of facts and data and understanding.” The CGA president/CEO also provided an update on the road to regulation in Alberta, including Minister Dale Nally’s pending appearance on a panel Wednesday alongside Burns, AGCO chief Dr. Karin Schnarr and iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton (you can expect the soon-to-retire iGO ED will deliver the latest quarterly results on the Ontario industry) at this week’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. We also asked Burns for his thoughts on the state of regulated gambling today across the true north, strong and free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.