Increased regulatory scrutiny shines a light on gambling advertising and child safety as a challenge for the iGaming industry.
At the SBC Summit Canada, Mike Randall, RG expert at Gaming Lab argued that responsible gambling is not a ‘one size fits all’ policy anymore.
Attracting the right players is important, but so is understanding what players want, what influences them, and who might be more vulnerable and what can be done to meet their needs.
“It’s very important to make sure that the players we’re attracting are the ones that we know can be here for a long time,” explained Dave Borlack, head of marketing for PointsBet Canada.
“That includes people that are using sports betting or igaming in an entertainment fashion, as opposed to just doing it to turn over a quick buck, so it’s important for us, when we’re targeting these people, to make sure the ones we’re bringing in are the ones we know will be here for the long haul.”
The key to this is the relationship between the operator and the affiliate, added Geoffrey Smorong, vice president of operations for Income Access. Long gone are the days of “just onboarding as many affiliates as you want and letting them run wild”, he said, and instead there should be a focus on aligning on what the audience of brand messaging is meant to be.
Media network’s role
ThinkTV chief executive Catherine MacLeod pointed out that this is a different process for traditional media types like TV than it is for the internet, as its much easier to regulate, and operators tend to be very co-operative with networks, sending in scripts, creative plans, and more.
This has changed as the internet has evolved, MacLeod said, as everyone is much more educated and more communicative between different channels.
“Now, I think that gaming operators feel that we’re working with regulators and with our broadcast networks to make sure we’re getting things to air that are appropriate to be there.”
But streaming sites and the internet are much more difficult to monitor and regulate, and plenty of television now comes through connected TV (CTV) rather than a broadcast feed, which many who simply watch the games, do not realise.
“The ads you may see on the internet, like I got a call or a note about Kalshi the other day, that’s not regulated, that’s not something we agreed to put on on television, and it certainly shouldn’t be online,” MacLeod explained.
“But, we have no control over that, because it’s the internet, even though it’s showing up on your TV screen. So, I would encourage those who care about their brands to make sure that they’re clearing this, not just for television, but for all their online video.”
The grey market
This is ultimately the wrong conversation though, argued Randall, the much more pressing issue is the elimination of the ability of black and grey market to communicate.
“The conversation that we should be having in Canada around advertising and targeting – is how do we ensure that black market operators are not getting their messages through? I live in an unregulated province, let me tell you, the majority of what I see is unregulated, we’re having the wrong conversation.”
This is similar in TV, MacLeod agreed, and cracking down on gambling as a whole only opens the door for black and grey market competition.
“It’s important in a regulated industry to care about the people that you serve, and if you’re giving the ones that you don’t want a voice, it creates more problems. So, we need to create more regulations within the providers that are allowing us to be able to have that voice, that’s what’s critical here,” added Borlack.
Ultimately, there is plenty of room and appetite for legal, regulated, and safe gambling operators and advertisers, but the industry only benefits from more guidance and a more secure landscape all round.
