Busiest advertisers on Stanley Cup broadcasts don't include gaming businesses
New data from MediaRadar has food and beverage, banks and automobiles spending the most money on Canadian networks during the National Hockey League playoffs.
Not too long after Wednesday’s GNC dispatch went out to our loyal subscribers (thank you for your support) leading with the reintroduction of a sports betting advertising bill in the Senate, a LinkedIn post by Canadian Gaming Association boss Paul Burns popped up on our computer screen.
Burns cited new data by MediaRadar on advertising during the Stanley Cup playoffs on Canadian networks, or more specifically, the brands spending the most Canuck bucks to promote their brands and/or products.
From MediaRadar’s own post on the LinkedIn:
Using proprietary video-based pattern recognition technology, we tracked TV airplay from April 14 to May 11, 2025, highlighting the brands with the most on-air occurrences during NHL playoff broadcasts.
While it may not be the catalyst for the same outpouring of spits and giggles as the Top 10 list on ye old Letterman Show, we bring to you the MediaRadar top 10.
As Burns pointed out, nary an ad on said list from a gambling company or provincial lottery/gaming corporation. And, from his LI post:
Online gaming ad spending dropped from 3% of total ad spend in 2023 to 2% in 2024. Online gaming ad occurrences in NHL hockey broadcasts dropped from 6% of total occurrences in 2023 to 4% in 2024. Overall, online gaming advertising accounts for only 2% of all TV ad occurrences. As the Senate of Canada (Bill S-211) to create a national strategy for sports wagering is reintroduced, perspective and facts are important. Sport betting revenue in Canada represents less than 5% of the $21 billion annual national gaming revenue.
Semi-related is an article from Sean McIndoe and Sean Gentille in The Athletic that’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek take targeting their least-favourite ads on both sides of the border during the Stanley Cup playoffs. While gaming operators avoided incurring the wrath of the two Seans, BetMGM pitchman Wayne Gretzky did not in touting another brand.
Tom Nightingale reported Wednesday for Canadian Gaming Business on the second reading of the bill proposed by Sen. Marty Deacon to create a national framework for advertising on sports betting (you can read the entire transcript of the bill’s debate here).
Deacon, in her remarks Tuesday, said she is “disappointed to be back here at square one”, and added “the saturation of ads was an issue that should have been dealt with from the start. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that today in Canada, it is impossible to watch a sporting event without being encouraged to gamble.
“. . . We let companies find creative ways to get around provincial regulations as they appear. As other provinces allow for their own private markets, which seems inevitable, Canadians will be presented with a patchwork of regulation that will only be as good as its weakest denominator. We must strike early and while the iron is hot, or hottish.”
It appears from this corner that creating a national framework for a sector that’s regulated by the provinces is a sticky wicket, even in a new spirit of cooperation among the federal government and their provincial counterparts. As we’ve noted many, many times, Ontario’s robust regime - along with OLG and the provincial lottery gaming corporations across our home and native land - have given media companies a badly needed revenue boost.
As Burns (who punched out an op-ed on the harmonization of Canada’s gaming industry in the latest edition of the Canadian Gaming Business magazine) points out, and as others have noted, gaming advertising has had a reset since storming out of the gate with the launch of Ontario’s open market in April 2022. A tap of the Sher-Wood to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission for its part in some of that pullback with the banning of athletes from advertising (except when it comes to responsible gaming messaging). We’ll also point out that, as iGaming Ontario reports, more than 80% of the handle generated by the 50 operators in the province’s legal market comes from online casino, not sports wagering.
It has been suggested to the senator that a better use of her time and effort around the business of betting would be to push Canada to sign onto the Macolin Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions. Separate from this issue, your humble correspondent would suggest the senator use her current position and her decades of experience in Canadian and international sport to join others calling for a federal inquiry into the current national sport system which is outdated, lacks accountability and has failed too many times when it comes to protecting young athletes and other participants.
We will continue to follow the road to Bill S-211, and we will learn more about advertising and the business of gaming at the upcoming Canadian Gaming Summit.
And the King Charles III Coronation Medal goes to . . . Dave Forestell
It’s not gold, silver or bronze, and there’s no podium. But in the case of Dave Forestell, being recognized for his contributions to his province, and country, is pretty darn special.
Word came out this week the chair of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has been awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of a career very, very well done — including his work in the gaming industry. Forestell was appointed the inaugural chair of iGaming Ontario in July 21 after joining the AGCO board of directors in 2018. He departed iGO to return to the AGCO and was announced as its new chair in July 2023.
Currently the Vice President, Canada External Relations for TC Energy, Forestell has held positions on several boards, including the Ontario College of Art and Design University, the Canadian Council for the Americas, the Canadian Club Toronto and the Advisory Council of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the Ivey Business School at Western University.
“Dave was recognized for his exceptional dedication to the betterment of Ontario through his leadership in public policy and governance,” said the AGCO in its announcement. “With a deep commitment to innovation in public service, he has been a strong advocate for smart regulation and institutional excellence across the sectors we oversee.”
The King Charles III Coronation Medal was created in May 2023 to mark the current king’s coronation, and is the first Canadian commemorative medal of its kind.
Registration is now open for the June 17-19 Canadian Gaming Summit at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the city below Beeton. Register here using the code PARLEHPARTNERVIP and get 50% off your full-event pass.
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