Ontario sports gamblers lose an average of $283 per month per sports-betting account
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2024
OTTAWA – Ontario’s legalization of single-event sports betting has turned into a public health problem that demands government action, according to a report from Cardus, a non-partisan think tank. The Hidden Harms of Single-Event Sports Betting in Ontario indicates that the average net monthly spending per sports betting account in Ontario is growing quickly and has already hit $283 – more than 3% of the average monthly household income. Yet, according to experts, gambling more than 1% of income is associated with a higher risk of harm to finances, relationships, and psychological and physical health.
“Single-event sports betting has become so big in Ontario, it can turn anyone’s smartphone into a two-hour slot machine while watching a hockey or football game,” says Brian Dijkema, President – Canada at Cardus. “The provincial government needs to regain control of this form of gambling before the situation gets worse.”
The Hidden Harms of Single-Event Sports Betting in Ontario also cites one study that found sports viewers in Ontario are exposed to 2.8 gambling references every minute during live sports broadcasts. Additionally, compared to traditional sports bettors, bettors during sports events tend to be younger men and more likely to consume alcohol while betting.
Ontario needs to take urgent action to strengthen protections for sports bettors, including:
- Banning ads for sports betting
- Banning in-game bets
- Making responsible-gambling messages more effective
- Providing a central platform for players to limit their gambling
- Requiring gambling corporations to financially contribute to problem-gambling prevention and treatment at a rate proportionate to their spending on marketing.
Meanwhile, a parallel Cardus report indicates that there is no credible, public estimate for how big Canada’s sports betting black market was before the legalization of single-event betting in 2021 and, likewise, governments have little idea what effect legalization has had on illegal betting.
Advocates for legalization had claimed under-the-table betting was worth $10 billion. However, in How Big Is Canada’s Black Market for Sports Betting? Cardus found that the $10-billion figure was based on a 25-year-old guesstimate from the United States that was simply extrapolated to Canada.
Cardus’s analysis of provincial data suggests Ontario has seen little benefit from the legalization of single-game betting. Publicly-owned iGO only netted $74-million in revenue from $7-billion in wagers in 2022-23 while private companies made off with $294-million.
“Single-event sports betting has been great for private companies, but not for the public purse and may not have actually helped reduce under-the-table sports betting anyway,” says Dijkema. “Rather, there are signs Ontario has created new problems with sports betting that it needs to fix now.”
The Hidden Harms of Single-Event Sports Betting in Ontario is available online here.
How Big Is Canada’s Black Market for Sports Betting? is available online here.
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MEDIA INQUIRIES
Daniel Proussalidis
Cardus – Director of Communications
613-899-5174
media@cardus.ca
Cardus – Imagination toward a thriving society
Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.