Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for "all parties" to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
The NFL is spending US$6.2 million to help expand programs to prevent or treat problem gambling across the country.
The league is launching a responsible betting initiative aimed at getting fans to set limits on their wagers, understand the risks of betting, and know where to get help if things get out of hand. It is partnering with the National Council on Problem Gambling to improve the group's nationwide help line, create new treatment programs and expand existing ones, and educate football fans who gamble on how to do so responsibly.
A three-year effort will include in-game messaging, social media outreach, broadcast, print and in-stadium messaging. Some of it will target people who are too young to legally gamble but may feel tempted to do so.
More than 45 million Americans say they plan to bet on NFL games this year, according to the American Gaming Association, the casino industry's national trade group. That's an increase of 36% from last year.
“Sports betting is supposed to be fun,” said Christopher Halpin, the NFL's executive vice president, chief strategy and growth officer. “We feel it is critical that the NFL uses the power of our voice to educate and encourage fans who choose to gamble to do so in a safe and responsible way. We also recognize that responsible betting programs across the country are under-resourced, especially as legalization spreads nationwide.”
Keith Whyte, executive director of the council, said the NFL's funding will enable it to “exponentially” expand its advocacy, awareness and assistance efforts regarding problem gambling.
“We will be able to help so many more people as a result of this,” he said. “The NFL has set an example for the other professional sports leagues who also need to realize their obligation to address the downside of sports betting as much as they embrace the upside.”
Whyte said about 2% of the U.S. population has a gambling problem, but among those who have gambled within the last 12 months, the rate is 5%.
He said the need for compulsive gambling treatment and prevention has grown since New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2018 clearing the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting. Half the states currently do.
“We think the risk has doubled since then,” Whyte said.
He said the council is seeing more respondents to its surveys say they believe gambling is a good way to make money; that they frequently rely on it as a way to pay for daily living expenses; and that they lie about their gambling to family members - all indicators of a potential gambling problem.
Whyte said the council plans to offer grants to local groups to develop programs aimed at young people, including those under the legal gambling age of 21.
“By the time kids come to college, the majority of student-athletes has already bet on sports,” he said.
Whyte said talks are under way that could lead to similar agreements with the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the Women's Tennis Association.
The NFL says it will work with its official sports betting partners - Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings, and FanDuel - to share information and support the effort. Each of those sports betting operators has developed its own responsible gambling program.
“Anyone with a role in legal gaming shares a mutual interest and critical role in reducing the incidence of and harm caused by problem gambling,” said Chris Holdren, co-president of Caesars Digital.
A central message of the campaign will be the slogan “Stick to Your Game Plan. Always Bet Responsibly.”
It will encourage gamblers to decide in advance what and how much they will bet on, to know their own limitations and tendencies, and to understand how betting and sports books work. It also will direct them to the website responsibleplay.org for additional resources.
Halpin said about 17% of NFL fans aged 21 and over describe themselves as frequent sports bettors, although the term has not been defined. An additional 30% describe themselves as casual bettors (who may enter office Super Bowl pools) or aspirational bettors, who say they want to bet once it becomes legal in their state.
“As legalization expands, problem gambling grows,” Halpin said. “For the casual bettor, now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach them what responsible betting looks like: mindfulness, setting betting budgets, knowing your operator, knowing how parlays and other kinds of bets work. We intend to get this right.”
Canada called for "all parties" to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album and at 2 a.m. Eastern, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," featuring 15 additional songs.
The United States told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received 'last minute' information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, but didn't participate in the apparent attack, officials said.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.