The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the strength of Canada’s regulated sports betting market. Canada is co-hosting the tournament with the United States and Mexico. The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026, with 48 countries, 104 matches across 16 cities, 13 of which will be hosted in Canada. Toronto will host six matches and Vancouver will host seven.
For sportsbooks, it’s an obvious opportunity: a month-long betting window built around fan engagement, national interest, high-profile matches, that’s scheduled around North American kickoff times. H2 Gambling Capital estimates more than $400 million will be bet on the tournament through regulated sportsbooks in Canada.
But the same conditions that make the World Cup a lucrative opportunity for licensed operators also make it attractive to scammers. When attention spikes, so does advertising, and that applies equally to bad actors. And when consumers are searching quickly for where to bet, what app to download, or which promotion to use, the line between a legal sportsbook, an unregulated gambling site, and an entirely fake ad can become blurry very quickly.
Fake Ads Abound
The fake ads are already here. Recent reporting from Gaming News Canada has flagged fake online gambling advertisements appearing on Meta platforms, including phony Instagram posts using Connor McDavid’s image and ads targeting regulated operators in Ontario. They reported that OLG confirmed one of the ads was fake, and that the corporation has previously worked with Meta to identify and remove phony ads.
Other provinces have seen similar issues in the past. Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan has previously warned residents not to click on social media ads claiming to offer online versions of the province’s land-based casinos, including Dakota Dunes Casino and Casino Regina. Those warnings described ads that mimic real casino brands in order to obtain credit card or banking information.
The Canadian gambling advertising debate often focuses on the most visible participants, liker licensed sportsbooks and casinos, and for good reason. Legal operators advertise heavily, particularly around major sports events. Their ads are seen on broadcasts, social media platforms, websites, transit systems, and billboards. Regulators have already responded to some concerns around the proliferation of gambling ads. In Ontario, for example, the AGCO’s Marketing and Advertising Standards prohibit public advertising of gambling inducements, bonuses and credits, except on an operator’s gaming site and through direct advertising or marketing after a player has actively consented. Ontario has also restricted the use of athletes in iGaming advertising, subject to a narrow exception for responsible gambling messaging.
Who Cares About the Rules?
The World Cup highlights a different aspect of the advertising-related concerns. The entities most motivated to mislead consumers may also be the ones least likely to follow the rules in the first place.
Licensed operators have public names, registrations, compliance teams, advertising approvals, payment relationships, and the risk of reputational damage. If they cross the line, regulators have an obvious course of action to pursue accountability. Fake advertisers are different. They have the ability to use cloned logos, scraped images, and social media accounts that disappear as soon as they are reported. In the worst cases, they may not even be gambling operators in any meaningful sense – some are simply fraud campaigns presenting as online casinos or sportsbooks.
This creates a regulatory mismatch. The legal market is increasingly detailed and rule-bound, while the fake-ad ecosystem remains fast and opportunistic.
Consumer Risk
For consumers, the risk is especially acute during an event like the World Cup. A regular sports bettor in Ontario is likely to know which sportsbooks are licensed and where to find the official list of regulated sites. However, a casual fan may not even know that list exists. A person who bets once every four years may not understand that legal availability of betting products differs by province, that Ontario has a competitive regulated market, or that an ad appearing on a major social platform is not proof that the gambling site is legitimate.
That confusion is exactly what scammers aim to exploit. A fake ad doesn’t need to fool everyone. It only needs to reach enough people at the right moment, like before a Canada match, after a controversial referee decision, or when fans are searching for tournament odds.
The Channelization Conundrum
The issue also cuts directly against one of the central policy goals of regulated gambling: channelization. A major reason to create a legal online gambling market is to move players toward regulated products, safer payment systems, responsible gambling tools, age and identity verifications, and accountable operators. If consumers are pulled into fake or illegal sites through scam advertising, the regulated market loses some of its protective effect. The player may think they are participating in the legal market, while in reality they are outside it entirely.
This is why fake gambling ads should not be treated as a side issue separate from gambling regulation. They are a channelization issue, a consumer protection issue, an advertising issue, and, in some cases, an intellectual property issue. When a fake ad misuses a casino name, sportsbook brand, athlete image, or Crown corporation identity, it undermines trust in the entire regulated ecosystem.
The Buck Stops… Somewhere
The platforms hosting these ads, like Meta or X, should play a role in stopping this problem. Gambling advertising is already subject to platform-specific approval systems, and digital advertising platforms have policies governing gambling ads, including requirements around authorization and geographic targeting. But the continued appearance of fake ads suggests that approval systems, takedown processes, and enforcement incentives are not always keeping pace with the risk.
That is particularly concerning because consumers often assign credibility to the environment in which an ad appears. An ad on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or a major search platform can feel more legitimate than a random pop-up on an obscure website. That perceived legitimacy can lead a consumer to assume that if the platform allowed the ad, someone must have checked it. That assumption may be wrong.
The Canadian Gaming Association has also publicly criticized Meta’s handling of online gambling advertising. At SBC Summit Canada last month, CGA president and CEO Amanda Brewer argued that advertising is one of the ways consumers identify regulated operators, but that illegitimate advertising can undermine that function.
What Can Be Done?
For licensed operators, the World Cup is a chance to enhance brand-protection and consumer-education, in addition to a marketing opportunity. Operators should aim to monitor impersonation, report fake ads quickly, and make it easy for customers to confirm official websites and apps.
The World Cup will bring unprecedented attention to soccer in Canada. It will also bring unprecedented attention to betting on soccer in Canada. The success of the next month should be measured by more than handle, revenue, or app downloads. It should also be measured by whether consumers are steered toward legal, accountable operators rather than impersonators and scams.
Ontario has spent the last several years building one of the largest regulated iGaming markets in North America. The World Cup is a chance to show that the regulated market can protect consumers when everyone else is competing for their clicks.
