June 30, 2022
Today the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced that it intends to fine DraftKings the sum of $100,000 for violating Ontario's igaming marketing rules. The AGCO prohibits the advertisement of any form of "inducement" on any channels outside of the operator's own platforms. The AGCO found that DraftKings had widely advertised what is known in the industry as an "odds boost" promotion with odds quoted as 2:1. The promotion in question was broadcast widely on television and on social media to potential legal Ontario sportsbook customers.
Ontario's igaming marketing rules have been a challenge for operators and their affiliate marketers. The wider igaming industry has largely built their new customer acquisition models and strategies around promotions that use language for "risk free bets", "deposit bonuses", "free bets" and "bet credits" among other terms, that tend to include a headline dollar amount for the quoted inducement or offer. In recent years, more conservative operators have shied away from using these terms in their advertising language off their own platforms, directing their affiliate partners to use more generic language such as "Open Account Offer".
Ontario's marketing rules however, see all of these terms as marketing violations if used on any advertising platform outside of the operators own websites or apps. No "offers" are allowed to be advertised, period. Affiliate marketers have thus been made to jump through several hoops in order to maintain regulatory compliance on behalf of their operators. Although the AGCO does not oversee and license martketing affiliates, licenced AGCO operators are responsible for their advertising. After the AGCO came down with their first fines on BetMGM and PointsBet, most Ontario operators communicated swiftly with their affiliate partners that bonus offers (inducements) may not be discussed in any form of content on affiliate sites and platforms.
Return to SNBET's Ontario gaming news page.
|