ONTARIO ONE YEAR ON
By adopting a “no nonsense” approach to operators violating Standard 2.05, the AGCO is signaling to the public that responsible gaming is a high priority. The AGCO is also sending a message to operators that there will be financial and reputational consequences to advertising inducements. These fines counter the financial benefit connected to the violation of the standard and (hopefully) deters operators from engaging in a cost-benefit analysis of whether to advertise inducements in contravention of the Standards. Banning (And Unbanning) Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bets On December 1, 2022, the AGCO became the first jurisdiction to establish a blanket provision on UFC betting. According to a press release provided by the AGCO, the AGCO made its decision “in order to protect the betting public” due to “concerns about non-compliance with AGCO’s betting integrity requirements”. 6 The AGCO’s reasoning for banning UFC bets is that the UFC “does not prohibit all insiders from betting on UFC events”. An insider includes an athlete’s
coaches, managers, handlers, trainers, medical professionals, or other persons with access to non-public information. This contravenes the Standards, because certain standards require that (i) rules and codes shall be prescribed and enforced that include prohibitions on betting by insiders; and (ii) there are adequate integrity safeguards in place to mitigate match- fixing and any other activity that may influence the outcome of bet upon events. In its press release, the AGCO stated that “once necessary remedial steps have been taken, they [operators] may provide information demonstrating that UFC bets or betting products meet the Standards.” On January 19, 2023 the UFC and U.S. Integrity (a sports- integrity solutions provider) announced a comprehensive agreement for betting monitoring services. The press release specifically mentions addressing the AGCO’s concerns and working with the AGCO to ensure the integrity of the UFC. 7 On that same day, the AGCO reinstated betting on UFC.
The AGCO could have ignored the UFC betting controversy or
6 AGCO Requires Ontario Gaming Operators to Stop Offering and Accepting UFC Bets Due to Betting Integrity Concerns, December 1, 2022, https://www.agco.ca/blog/lottery-and-gaming/dec-2022/agco-requires-ontario-gaming-operators-stop-offering-and-accepting 7 U.S. Integrity, “Comprehensive Agreement for Betting Monitoring Services,” January 19, 2023. Available at https://www.usintegrity.com/news/ ufc-and-us-integrity-announce-comprehensive-agreement-for-betting-monitoring-services.
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