Perhaps we’ll see some tweaks in those great Wayne Gretzky-Connor McDavid television ads, with the announcement by BetMGM today that the company will be promoting responsible gaming more in its Ontario sports betting advertisements.
Not that there has been any issue with the quality of the television ads across the industry in Ontario that we’ve been seeing. Quite the opposite — many of them have been highly entertaining.
However, a segment of the population has been expressing concern at the volume of ads for Ontario gambling sites and the impact that has on people who have gambling addiction problems.
March is Problem Gaming Awareness Month
Friday, the sports betting and iGaming operator announced a new pledge to prominently feature responsible gaming messages in its marketing and ad campaigns, beginning March 1, in alignment with Problem Gambling Awareness Month.
As part of that, responsible gaming messaging will be featured in the mobile BetMGM Ontario sportsbook app and within BetMGM ads on billboards, television, print and radio across Canada as well as in the United States.
The responsible gaming messages will also appear on the company’s digital and social platforms.
Partnering With GameSense For RG Messages
Those messages were developed in partnership with GameSense, a responsible gaming program developed and licensed in MGM Resorts and BetMGM by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
Ontario online casinos, including the BetMGM casino Ontario, launched in April.
“As the legalized sports betting and online gaming industry continues to expand, it is vital that we not only equip players with tools and resources for how to play in a responsible and safe manner, but that we also make a significant commitment to showcasing responsible gaming in our advertising,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said in a statement.
GameSense was launched by BCLC in 2009. It encourages healthy gambling behavior by giving players the tools to make informed decisions. Those tools include helping players understand the odds of winning, the truth behind gambling myths and ways to set — and stick to — personally allocated time and monetary limits, whether on sportsbooks or at Ontario casino apps.
“While today's announcement is a significant step forward, one that we hope other operators will follow, we also know that this is just the start,” Greenblatt said. “Research is essential to progress and will make an important contribution to tackling problem gambling. We are committed to protecting players across the country and have partnered with The International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) to help better understand and tackle the issues around advertising and problem gambling.”
BetMGM Gives Grant to RG Center
BetMGM gave a grant to the ICRG in November to support that organization’s research into responsible gambling, including the impact advertising has on problem gambling.
OntarioBets supports and encourages responsible gaming measures, see more about us here and learn about responsible gaming resources.
