Fake Alphonso Davies Gambling Ad Puts Spotlight on Alberta’s Illegal iGaming Fight

A fake, AI-generated gambling ad depicting the father of Canadian soccer star Alphonso Davies being arrested in what turned out to be CA$3 million in purported gambling winnings is putting a renewed spotlight on Alberta’s new regulated iGaming market.

According to reporting by the Edmonton Sun, an advertiser under the name “Prime Spin Zone” placed an ad on Instagram showing Davies’ father being arrested by Edmonton police. 

The video shows a vault of money, then a scene where Davies’ father is released after the police found the money was winnings from legal gambling, the ad says.

Fake Ad Targets Davies

The AI image of Davies’ father then tells people to go online and play the same online casino he did. When users click the ad, they land on Oxibet, a gambling site based in Comoros.

The Sun’s story quotes Davies’ agent, who called the ad “lies,” and said that Davies isn’t tied to any gambling sites.

A fake ad pushing people to an illegal offshore site is exactly the reason why Alberta brought in the Ontario-style regulated model.

Users Directed to Illegal Site

As Dale Nally, minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, said to the Sun, as he has said many times before and after Alberta’s open, regulated iGaming market went live on July 13, the big objective was to offer Albertans legal alternatives to the many illegal, black-market sites that have been available for years, operations based in places like Malta and Curaçao.

“Standing still was not the responsible choice,” Nally said on July 13. “Albertans were already gambling. What we’re putting in place is a regulated market that will put player safety and player responsibility first.

“At the end of the day, this is not about revenue. This is about channelization. How much of that black market can we channelize into the legal, regulated market?”

Channelization Drives Regulatory Push

Nally said that 70% of online gambling in Alberta was through unregulated operators before July 13, with the balance gambling on the province’s only legal iGaming platform at the time, Play Alberta.

As of Sept. 17, 31 licensed iGaming sites are live and accepting wagers in the province.

Oxibet is not on the list. Alberta market standards also forbid celebrity athletes like Davies from appearing in ads that promote gambling. The only exception to that is ads that promote responsible gambling.