The NHL Alumni Association is “suing the online gaming operator PointsBet Canada” for C$1.1M for “ending their sponsorship agreement in November 2023 after the Ontario government announced gambling companies could only use active or retired athletes to promote responsible gambling,” according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. In a lawsuit filed Jan 18 in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, the NHL Alumni Association alleges PointsBet is “obligated to continue paying for its sponsorship through January 1, 2026, despite the government's marketing restrictions.” The alumni association and PointsBet initially signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement in January 2022 that “gave the gambling company exclusive marketing rights within North America to retired NHL players.” The alumni association wrote in its statement of claim that after it signed a contract extension with PointsBet in March 2023, the company “was scheduled to pay" an annual license fee of C$160,000 that would increase to C$170,000. The lawsuit said that PointsBet “also agreed to contribute money to a fund to pay players for their participation in marketing,” adding that PointsBet’s payment in the first year was C$275,000 before dropping to C$150,000 per year in subsequent years. According to the lawsuit, after the “tighter marketing restrictions” on gambling advertising were announced in Aug 2023, PointsBet wrote to NHL Alumni Association President Glenn Healy on Nov. 10, 2023, saying that the company “would terminate their agreement.” The alumni association “alleges" that its contract specified that it would be binding so long as the sponsor has a license to "operate in Canada or the U.S.” (TSN.ca, 4/19).
