Article content

A friend of mine recalls working at an event in Sault Ste. Marie at which the since-departed Gordie Howe signed autograph after autograph, for hours.

Article content

It was hot in the hotel ballroom, and a local beer label rep offered several times to bring Mr. Hockey an ale while he slaked the thirst of his many, many fans.

“Not now,” Gordie told him bluntly. “There are kids here.”

I think of that story almost every day, but not because of some obsession with the pride of Floral, Sask.

I’m reminded of it every time I see Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews or Wayne Gretzky shilling for sports gambling sites. And that happens at least every 15 minutes on sports broadcasts.

It seems that today’s superstars and retired sports heroes don’t give a rat’s behind about the effects their endorsements might have on impressionable kids. Either that or they’re willing to set aside any scruples in order to keep the wolf away from the mansion door.

Article content

Article content

Things may have changed since Gordie’s time, but I think kids still worship their sporting idols and want to be just like them when they grow up. Those ads suggest that betting on sports is as natural and acceptable as lacing up skates.

Everybody does it, mom, even Maurice Richard Trophy winners.

And if superstars promote “what’s been classified as an addictive behaviour that has potential harm, it’s not a great situation,” notes Timothy Dewhirst, a senior research fellow in marketing and public policy at the University of Guelph, in a recent Globe and Mail article.

Yes, I’m aware sports betting is legal. So was drinking beer, when Mr. Howe turned down the repeated and probably tempting offer of a cold one.

Both activities are best pursued by a mature individual, aware of the facts and the consequences.

Article content

Thanks to McDavid, Matthews and others, when today’s kids become old enough to bet on sports, assuming they don’t first find ways to hack past whatever barriers exist to underaged gambling on those sites, there will be a celebrity thumb on the scale of their decision-making.

They’ll have spent their childhoods watching their multimillionaire role models tell them it’s normal and good to try to stretch your Tim Hortons paycheque by betting on who scores the next goal in the Leafs game.

By this point in the column, you might deduce that the odds that I gamble on sports are very long. You’d be right.

Still, I don’t give that same proverbial rat’s behind if you choose to do so. And I don’t resent whatever portion of my tax dollars goes to repair the damage; we all have our vices.

Article content

But (cue my best Simpsons voice), won’t somebody please think of the children?

Somebody is. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario proposed earlier this month to ban athletes from gambling ads. It would also ban “cartoon figures, symbols, role models, social media influencers, celebrities or entertainers who are reasonably expected to appeal to minors.”

Some jurisdictions, such as England, beat them to it. Some sports, such as the National Football League, have also banned athlete endorsements of sportsbooks.

Of course, McDavid, Matthews and Gretzky are just one facet of what seems to be a friendly takeover of hockey by the sports-betting behemoth.

I would have described that trio as the tip of the iceberg, but nothing about sports betting lurks below the surface: turn on a sports broadcast and it’s in your face, whether you like it or not. Sometimes it’s harder to find out the score than the odds.

Article content

I’m not the only one who doesn’t like it. An Ipsos poll in January found 48 per cent of Canadians agree (17 per cent strongly) that the amount and volume of gaming advertising is excessive. And 63 per cent want limits on the amount and/or placement of gambling ads.

Mind you, Ipsos also found 30 per cent of Ontario adults have tried sports betting, so maybe the ads work.

If only it were just the ads. Betting company names and logos are more ubiquitous on NHL game broadcasts than Tim Horton mugs used to be. Every segment of every intermission seems to be “brought to you” by the good folks at Gambling Inc. Every studio bears a gambling site’s name.

Some segments are devoted exclusively to gambling, spewing the latest pluses and minuses that mean absolutely nothing to someone who only wants to watch hockey, not monetize it.

Article content

And just so gambling feels totally at home in a hockey broadcast, the commentators drop frequent references to the odds into their conversations and analyses. Suddenly something that had been unmentionable is as much a part of hockey as is spitting hydration drinks onto the ice between shifts.

Think hockey betting won’t affect the game itself? Just a few days ago a Toronto Star columnist, commenting on inconsistent refereeing in the playoffs, noted the decisions of officials are more critical than ever — due to the popularity of betting on hockey.

I’d like to be able to turn on a hockey game and watch a hockey game.

And I’d like the game’s biggest stars, and maybe Hockey Night in Canada, to show a little more social responsibility and a lot less greed.

To contact Tom Mills, or to acquire a copy of his book Sex is a Four-Letter Word and Other Misconceptions, email him at [email protected] or visit humourmetom.ca.