TORONTO - Toronto should not allow FIFA-related gambling advertisements on city property during the matches next summer, including the TTC, advocates argue.
Critics, including former mayor John Sewell, said the gambling ads will have a negative impact on locals and visitors alike during the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup games in June 2026.
Sports gambling ads can be relentless — during the previous men's FIFA championships, in Qatar in 2022, researchers counted 156 gambling ads over 30 matches, or 5.6 ads per match.
But FIFA’s host city agreement with Toronto may constrain city hall’s ability to limit gambling ads, according to Adam Chaleff, a senior advisor to Mayor Olivia Chow.
“It's absolutely staggering that we're now going to be in the position where city council signed a contract to actually allow gambling ads on big sporting events,” Sewell said, speaking for the group Ban Ads For Gambling.
FIFA close to gambling sponsorship deal
In a March 10 email to Ban Ads for Gambling, Chaleff said the city is “aware that FIFA is close to a deal for an international sponsorship in the gambling/gaming space."
"Should this sponsorship be finalized, it is likely that Toronto, along with other host cities, will be obligated to execute that sponsorship agreement on behalf of FIFA,” Chaleff wrote. “This obligation arises from the legal agreements that City Council authorized City officials to enter into prior to Mayor Chow’s election."
The agreement with FIFA was signed in 2022 under former mayor John Tory. Hosting the six matches next year is expected to cost the city $380 million.
Adam Steiss, a spokesperson in FIFA's Geneva office, said that a local partner like the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) would be contracted to conduct gambling for the matches “probably later in the year.”
“I think the approach for 2026 would be similar to what's been done in the past, where you'd have OLG involved in Ontario," he said.
"It would be less of us probably imposing a betting company that nobody knows about in Canada, and more about having OLG.”
However, OLG had nothing to say for now.
“At this time, no decisions have been made regarding FIFA 2026 in Toronto,” wrote OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti.
iGaming Ontario spokesperson Josh Elliot also wrote his organization, which regulates third-party online gambling operators in the province, had “nothing to share on this topic at this time."
Toronto must follow FIFA agreement
Toronto's host city agreement with FIFA has only ever been released in a heavily censored form, in response to a freedom of information request.
Some unredacted parts of the contract could be interpreted to mean Toronto must go along with FIFA’s advertisement choices.
One paragraph, just below one that is blocked out, spells out that Toronto "shall refrain from any, direct or indirect, activity which may result in the infringement of, or unfair competition with, any Media Rights, Marketing Rights, Intellectual Property Rights or any other commercial or other rights and opportunities in relation to the Competition (which includes any Competition-related Events) or FIFA.”
TorontoToday has requested Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner to order the release of the full document, but a decision has yet to be made.
The city supports this release of the agreement, while FIFA continues to oppose it.
Toronto will host six FIFA games beginning on June 12, 2026, with a final match scheduled for July 2, 2026.
Could the city pass a bylaw to ban ads?
Sewell and other anti-gambling advocates are aware Chow’s office did not sign the city’s FIFA agreement, but are pushing for city council to ban the advertisements anyway.
He said councillors should not allow FIFA gambling ads on city property, even if the current municipal government was not the one to ink the contract.
"They could pass a bylaw saying on any city facility they will not allow gambling ads," Sewell argued.
In Toronto, gambling ads can commonly be found scattered across the city, onboard TTC trains, on bus shelters and flashy billboards.
“Mayor Chow is not involved with setting regulations for advertisements,” city spokesperson Zeus Eden wrote in an e-mail to TorontoToday. “Sports gambling in Ontario is regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.”
Eden also cited freedom of expression rights preventing a ban on ads.
“Further, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that public transit advertisements such as on the TTC are considered a public space and controversial advertisements cannot be rejected, as it violates the constitutionally-protected right to freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Eden said.
However, there is precedent in restrictions on ads for alcohol and cannabis. The Supreme Court case referenced concerned political ads on public transit in Vancouver. In their decision, the judges wrote that curbs on ads for substances like tobacco are reasonable, “justified on the basis of the need to protect youths because of their vulnerability.”
The Toronto public school board and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health have both recently called for curbs on gambling ads. The Canadian Mental Health Association has called for a complete ban.
In October, Coun. Chris Moise (Toronto Centre) introduced a motion at the TTC board to ask staff to study banning gambling ads from the TTC; it was defeated.
As for possible litigation between the city and FIFA, Sewell is unbowed.
"I would love to have that lawsuit," he said.
Impact of sports gambling advertisements
Sewell also told TorontoToday an influx of advertisements may lead to gambling addictions.
"Gambling advertisements cause an awful lot of trouble, and they get a lot more people to do a lot more gambling," said Sewell. "That's particularly true for young men."
Pervasive sports gambling has corrupted and distorted professional sport in recent years, Sewell argued.
He cited the example of Toronto Raptor Chris Boucher, who said he had been targeted with ugly abuse by fans who had lost money on bets.
“It's not just that the players are being harassed by other people who are gambling, but some players themselves do the gambling. So that's the corruption,” Sewell said.
“But I think the other thing is that instead of watching the skill of the players, too many people now are trying to figure out how this is going to turn out in terms of their bets, so it's not watching the game as much as watching the betting.”
A recent study found that about one-fifth of the viewing time of NHL and NBA games was taken up by gambling-related marketing, which creates problems for people with a weakness for problem gambling who just want to watch professional sports.
Research shows a pattern has emerged in Canada in which men under 30 have much higher rates of gambling, and of problem gambling, than the broader population.
In terms of social harms, problem gambling has been estimated as equivalent to alcohol dependence, or major depressive disorder. Young people aged 10 to 24 report higher rates of problem gambling than their elders.
A 2024 study by the Cardus Institute, a think tank that studies the impacts of gambling, argued that sports betting has "become a public health problem," in part because of relentless advertising.
The average person who bets on sports in Ontario loses $283 a month in terms of money spent minus winnings, the group said, which is more than three per cent of the average monthly household income.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction has said losing more than one per cent of household income to gambling per month creates a number of risks, including eventual bankruptcy, relationship issues, and feelings of guilt, loneliness and isolation.
Problem gambling is now a recognized public health concern in Canada. If you or someone you know show behavioural signs of problem gambling, help is available.