AGCO proposes restricting celebrities from gambling ads

Added: April 14, 2023

Ontario’s AGCO has recently announced a proposal that would prohibit celebrities and popular athletes from taking part in gambling promotions.

The main goal of the proposed change is to protect younger people, as it aims to ban celebrities and athletes that have a sizable following among children. The regulator came up with this proposal after it identified that many industry firms utilize such people in their advertisements to target minors.

The AGCO also proposes to ban other things from gambling promotional materials, such as cartoon characters and some symbols, that may have a significant degree of popularity among younger people. Additionally, the regulator calls for the restriction of all athletes from industry advertisements, regardless of whether they are active or retired.

To provide iGaming businesses in the province time to comply with the new proposal, the regulator calls for it to go into effect three months after it officially becomes law. AGCO will be taking suggestions and feedback till the 8th of May to hear the suggestions of a wide audience of industry professionals, stakeholders, as well as local members of the public, before implementing the law.

AGCO’s latest proposal is very similar to existing laws in many established regulated iGaming markets around the world. Regulators such as the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit and the British Gambling Commission have passed similar regulations in the past few years with nearly identical goals in mind.

AGCO