The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on Wednesday said it has urged media platforms to stop advertising unregulated online gambling sites in the province.

Specifically calling out offshore operator Bodog, the AGCO said it has called upon more than a dozen traditional and digital media platforms to “step up the fight” and stop promoting unregulated sites in Ontario by pulling down any existing ads and refusing to run any others in the future. The regulator added that, by advertising unregulated online casinos and sportsbooks, legitimate media offer those operators “a veneer of legitimacy.”

Bodog is operated by Caribbean-based Il Nido Inc. While it has blocked access in Québec for years and went dark in Nova Scotia last September, its website states that it “accepts players from all across Canada, except for those residing in the province of Quebec and Nova Scotia.” The AGCO noted it is “actively targeting Ontarians by advertising on popular traditional and digital media platforms” despite not holding a licence to operate in the province.

“By refusing to carry advertising from unregulated and high-risk operators like Bodog, media organizations can exemplify social responsibility and play an important role in protecting Ontarians and supporting Ontario’s regulated market,” said AGCO CEO and Registrar Dr. Karin Schnarr.

Advertising creates consumer confusion, says industry

The AGCO implied in its statement that by advertising unregulated operators like Bodog, media platforms such as websites and social media apps add to what it calls “confusion” among consumers.

That’s something we’ve heard in the past.

At the time Bodog shut down in Nova Scotia, then-Atlantic Lottery Corporation President and Patrick Daigle added to CGB that a lack of public awareness of the legalities “has lent an air of legitimacy to these operators and misleads the public.”

Last year, Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns and research experts from Ipsos discussed at the Canadian Gaming Summit that considerable “confusion” remains among consumers (even some regular gamblers) over the differences between regulated and unregulated gambling offerings and what exactly they are seeing in the adverts they are exposed to.

AGCO looks to ‘remove oxygen’ from unregulated market

Last month, Ipsos data shared by the regulated market’s now-independent conduct-and-manage agency iGaming Ontario (iGO) suggested that not only do 16.3% of Ontario gamblers play only on unregulated websites, but more than one-fifth (20.2%) of the 83.7% who said they gambled via licensed operators have also wagered on unlicensed and unregulated platforms.

The AGCO’s Chief Operating Officer, Dave Phillips, told attendees at the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL) spring conference in Vancouver in late April that while the AGCO works to “remove the oxygen” from the unregulated market, it suffers from “a real significant lack of authority” to take firm action.

Within its scope of powers, the AGCO continues to work with partners both in Ontario and internationally. It stated earlier this year that it is working on “a comprehensive strategy” to make it harder for the industry and the public to engage with the unregulated market “by delivering a second generation of high-impact, coordinated and relevant regulatory activities.”

“Building off of our early channelization success, we continue to work with industry stakeholders and other jurisdictions to combat the unregulated market while continuing to work towards crafting a comprehensive strategy with our government partners,” the AGCO’s Raymond Kahnert told CGB in January.

Canadian lotteries take Bodog to court

Meanwhile, the AGCO’s specific call-out of Bodog comes as a lawsuit filed against Bodog’s owner by several Canadian lotteries awaits a hearing.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) filed an injunction application in late January on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC) to prevent Bodog from operating or advertising in Manitoba. The suit accuses Bodog of “false and misleading” advertising in which it purports to be a “trusted” online gaming operator across Canada.

The CLC’s membership is made up of crown corporations from Manitoba, the Atlantics, Québec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Ontario is not represented within the group. CLC Executive Director Will Hill told CGB that the CLC and its members are “committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means on a pan-national basis.”

A court hearing in that case is scheduled for May 26.