Dr Shannon Charlebois is fed up with the prevalence of gambling advertising in professional sports broadcasts.
“The situation is ticking me off. It’s ticking off lots of Canadians,” she said.
Charlebois is medical editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She co-authored an editorial about gambling advertising and risks to youth.
She referred to a study from the University of Bristol which found that during game 5 of the U.S. broadcast of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, there was exposure to some form of gambling ad an average of every 13 seconds.
“ I’m watching that game with my kids,” she said. “I’ve got my 8-year-old who wants me to place bets for him.”
Charlebois says she’d like to see no sports betting ads, but would settle for changes that make minors less likely to see them.
“I would take a draw on no sports betting ads before 9:00 PM,” she said. “If they’re playing these ads at things like hockey games and soccer games, they’re directly marketing to youth, and that’s against national advertising standards.”
“These companies are not dumb. They’re creating their next generation of customers, and we’re allowing that. And why do we allow it? Well, because it generates tax revenues. These gambling corporations end up paying a lot of money to the jurisdiction or province where they are operating.”
Charlebois says she feels the saturation of gambling advertising over the last few years is corrupting sports.
“Sports are a great thing, she said. “My brother was an elite hockey player, I grew up with someone who saw the benefits of teamwork and hard work paying off. That is the opposite of what gambling is, and for these two things to be conflated in my son’s mind at eight years old is pretty disturbing.”
There’s currently a bill, S211, making its way through the Canadian senate that would require the federal government to create a national framework around gambling advertising.
Charlebois says that bill wouldn’t go as far as she wants on the issue, but would set the stage for changes.
“It’s the start we need,” she said.
She says since her editorial has come out, co-author Dr. Shawn Kelly has been invited to speak before the senate on October 8.
Recently published findings from Leger suggested that 75% of Canadians who had seen sports gambling ads felt that there were too many sports betting ads.
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube