My wife and I aren’t big into professional sports. I enjoy the occasional game with friends, but watching organized athletics has never been a major pastime for us.

Our seven-year-old son, on the other hand, is into it. First, it was the Edmonton Oilers and their run to the Stanley Cup final in 2024. Recently, it was soccer’s World Cup. He watched whenever he could.

His enthusiasm is what sports should be about — excitement, team loyalty and the game itself.

But then there are the betting ads. Sports broadcasts are full of them. As a public policy researcher, I know how problem gambling can lead to serious issues — financial and otherwise — especially among men and boys. As a parent, I know my son is influenced by what he sees on TV.

Increased involvement in sports betting is a serious social phenomenon that hurts our society. There have been some tentative steps toward policies with stronger safeguards, but nothing near what needs to be done to contain this major public issue.

On July 13, the Alberta government expanded its online-gambling market to allow private operators. In doing so, it is following Ontario’s move four years ago, albeit with some minor improvements.

During the last World Cup in 2022, legalized sports betting was only in its infancy in Canada. The federal government had legalized single-event sports betting just a year earlier. Ontario then led the country by opening up its online-gambling market. But the province figured it didn’t need the safeguards Cardus and others recommended to contain gambling harms — and it turned out to be a bad bet.

The Ontario experience is a cautionary tale. The latest data published by iGaming Ontario, the Crown corporation responsible for regulating the industry, shows that average spending per player account was $329 per month — up from $158 per month when the industry launched. That’s not the average amount that players wagered. It’s the average amount they lost in a single month. That’s almost $4,000 a year. And that probably understates the problem because many players hold........

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