As the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs continue in the NHL playoffs, sports betting numbers have been “through the roof” since its legalization a year ago, according to an expert.
Statistics Canada has reported that gambling industries grew nearly 40 per cent in 2022, with a nearly 60 per cent growth increase in Ontario, where online betting became legal in April of that year. Quebec saw an increase of more than 17 per cent, while Alberta saw close to 40 per cent growth, British Columbia over 37 per cent and Manitoba over 33 per cent.
“It’s here to stay,” Michael Naraine, an assistant sports management professor at Brock University in Ontario, told Global News about sports betting. He said betting’s numbers are “through the roof” as a direct result of legalizing online betting.
“You don’t have to go to your local convenience store,” he said. “You can, from the comfort of your home, jump on and place a bet in real time.”
According to Naraine, betting can make games more engaging and there is a tendency to want to bet for your home team — and with the Leafs the odds-on favourite to win the Stanley Cup, that could lead to a big boon for the gambling industry.
Naraine said there are two primary reasons people start to gamble: economic reasons or enjoyment.
The leisure gambling, done to have a bit of fun while watching a game you may be seeing anyway, typically tends to be less problematic when it comes to the spectrum of gambling behaviour, Naraine said.
However, those who gamble to really try to make money are the ones who may end up with addictions or “harm-level intensity,” given that sports can throw some twists and turns every once in a while.
“In sports, sometimes there’s a bit of a sure thing, but it’s still not definitive — on any given Sunday, anyone can win,” Naraine said.
He said those who bet primarily to win as much money as they can tend to be from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
To counter the potential negative effects of betting, Naraine says there needs to be a larger investment in research and education, pointing to both Australia and the U.K., which have had legal online betting longer than Canada, as places that eventually enacted more restrictions on the industry.
Those include limiting ads to before 7 p.m., not playing ads during games and not using influencers or current athletes for promotions.
That currently isn’t the case in Canada, where hockey stars Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have appeared in betting ads that can be seen during games and by those under the legal age.
“We don’t have a lot of sports gambling courses or programs or discussions happening at a national level,” Naraine said. “The research isn’t there.”
He said currently it’s the Wild West in Canada in terms of sports betting, and while policymakers could fast-forward to the restrictions Australia or the U.K. have implemented, it seems they are leaning toward taking their time and testing the waters.
“We’re in the infancy of sports betting here in Canada,” he said. “The regulators … just want to see how it all plays out.”
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