GME3: Odds Change On Betting Ads, Canada’s New News Meta, and Influencer Reversal

We have some interesting stories for you in this week’s GME3. First, an update on some sports betting advertising legislation in the US, Justin Trudeau’s statement on Meta’s banning of Canadian news content, and finally, a brand influencer trend that turns social media marketing on its head. Find the full stories below!

Gambling

Odds Change on Betting Ads

In February 2023, Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) introduced the Betting On Our Future Act. The Act is modeled on the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (1966), and, if passed, would ban all online and electronic sports-betting advertising. Tonko cited the following reasons for introducing this piece of legislation:

• Calls to the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network were up 45% in 2021;

• Sports betting companies spent $500 million on advertising in 2020; and, 

• 60-80% of high school students have gambled for money.

However, more than six months later, the gambling ecosystem has changed dramatically both in the US and the world at large. Several states have levied gaming operators with hefty fines due to targeting underage populations. The UK’s gaming commission released a 336-page white paper calling for higher, more consistent standards for online gaming. And by November 2023 Disney will have entered the gaming industry with the launch of ESPN Bet. 

Canada has a similar bill in the works. Bill S-269 (An Act respecting a national framework on advertising for sports betting) aims to do what it says in the name – establish a national framework around sports betting advertising. We wrote about Bill S-269 previously, but, similarly to its American counterpart, momentum seems to have stalled on getting this bill passed.

While Tonko still believes that his bill is important, the likelihood of it getting introduced to the House in the next couple of years is low. He argues that endorsements from celebrity athletes, many of whom are worshiped by young fans, are especially enticing to teenagers and children. The deluge of sports betting content that we have now means that children will be exposed to the ads.

Tonko has no intentions of backing down from this fight, despite the vigorous pushback his bill received from gaming industry insiders. If he succeeds, this bill has the potential to significantly alter America’s sports betting landscape, so we’ll be keeping an eye on it. Make sure you follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with any future updates!

Media

Canada’s New News Meta

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on Meta to lift its recent ban on Canadian news content in the wake of the raging wildfires in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia. Tens of thousands of BC residents were under evacuation orders earlier this week. While still possible to learn about this through friends or government social media accounts, the blocking of news accounts made it more difficult to get this crucial information out to the public.

Trudeau had this to say about the issue:

“Right now, in an emergency situation where up-to-date local information is more important than ever, Facebook is putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety. Instead of making sure that local journalists are fairly paid for keeping Canadians informed on things like wildfires, Facebook is blocking news from its sites. In a larger picture, that’s bad for democracy.”

Ollie Williams, who runs the station Cabin Radio out of Yellowknife, said the ban is “stupid and dangerous and clearly should not be in place.” This sentiment has been echoed many times since the ban was enacted earlier this month. 

Even police services across the country are struggling with the ban, and are having to establish new ways of disseminating crucial information to the public, including details in missing person cases, and emergency breaking news (as was the case with the wildfires over the weekend). RCMP offices in Saskatchewan and Manitoba have both expressed concern over the difficulty of relying on their own social media accounts to reach people.

However, in a statement to the CBC, a Meta spokesperson claimed that the government’s rationale for Bill C-18 is flawed. From their perspective, it’s the news networks that benefit from having their content on Meta’s platforms, not the other way around. Because of this, it would be inconceivable for them to pay Canadian news producers for content at all.

It’s difficult to say how long this dispute over Canadian news media will go on for. Meta enacted a similar, but short-lived, ban in Australia in 2021, and perhaps we can take some lessons from that event to help predict how Canada’s situation will be resolved. However, we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility that this will have a lasting impact on how news and information are distributed in Canada.

Entertainment

Influencer Reversal

There’s a new trend growing in popularity on TikTok and Instagram – the “deinfluincer.” These deinfluencers work by sharing posts about products that their followers shouldn’t buy, either because they’re overpriced or just plain ineffective.

The trend has grown significantly in the last few months with videos using the #deinfluencing tag amassing over 750 million views on TikTok. Some have tried to explain this rising phenomenon as a rebellion against (what’s perceived as) overly materialistic and inauthentic aspects of influencer culture

However, it could also be argued that this is just the newest trend in influencer marketing as a whole. Honesty and authenticity are in great demand these days, and some influencers may have realized that this approach would grant access to a market that more traditional endorsements would not. Topics like the issues with fast fashion, overconsumption, saving money, and climate change are all easy inroads to drive engagement to this new type of content.

While deinfluencing is nowhere near the popularity of more standard influencer marketing, the market of which is predicted to reach $21.1 billion by the end of 2023, the trend has continued to attract attention. 

Some social media trends can have a very short lifespan, but there’s no way to predict whether deinfluencing will go the way of the Tide Pod challenge or if it’s here to stay. Regardless, if you’re an influencer (or use them in your business’s advertising strategy) you should keep an eye on this new marketing trend.