With less than a month until the launch of Ontario‘s regulated iGaming market, regulators held a special webinar Monday to clarify their expectations regarding advertising and marketing standards.
The 90-minute webinar was conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) and thinkTV, a marketing and research association. Speakers included Paul Burns from the Canadian Gaming Association, a national trade association that represents leading gaming operators and suppliers, and representatives from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO), the two government entities responsible for regulating iGaming in the province.
The general takeaway from the webinar, which had over 600 attendees, is that the onus is on private operators to interpret and use their judgment regarding AGCO advertising guidelines. They can consult iGO/AGCO to clarify standards, but regulators don’t approve or validate any advertising/marketing materials before they go live. The AGCO will follow up with operators, however, if the commission has concerns.
Advertising and marketing guidelines for all operators wanting to do business in Ontario are available on the AGCO’s website under the responsible gaming subsection.
“Our job isn’t to find loopholes and to close the loopholes — our job is to communicate intent and objectives and for the industry to act in a compliant way,” said Jay Welbourn, senior manager, technology and compliance at the AGCO. “It’s not our objective at all to become an approval body for all the advertisements.”