Canada to Launch Single-Game Sports Betting on August 27
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On Thursday afternoon, Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti announced that Canada would be launching its legal single-game sports betting market on August 27. This comes just in time for the start of the NFL season, which begins on September 9. Canada has had a longstanding requirement that all sports betting be parlay-only, but this will allow Canada to generate billions of dollars in revenue. Within five years post-legalization, Canada is expected to generate a betting handle of almost $28 billion.
Canada Sports Betting History
Canada has a very liberal mindset surrounding sports betting as it has extensive provincial sports lotteries. and a completely open daily fantasy sports market, but sports betting has been limited to parlay bets with 3+ outcomes bet together. Six provinces currently allow those parlay bets through provincial agencies.
According to a 2014 TSN article, Canadians bet almost $16 billion on sports every year, only $500 million through country-sponsored Proline and other provincial sports lotteries. Canadians spend $10 billion a year on single-game sports betting in the illegal black market and $4 billion in the “grey” market (offshore sportsbooks). Offshore sportsbooks bring in $38 million of Canadian wagers every day.
Bill C-218 Legislative Processing
In February 2021, Bill C-218 was first brought forward by Kevin Waugh, a Conservative Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Grasswood. Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-218 in the Senate on June 22 by a vote of 57 “yes,” 20 “no,” and 5 abstentions. Bill C-218 saw bipartisan support from key voters. At the end of June, chief justice and government administrator Richard Wagner gave Bill C-218 royal assent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau originally voted for C-218 in February and approved it again in July.
Justice Minister David Lametti Announcement
On Thursday, Justice Minister David Lametti announced that Canada would launch single-game sports betting on August 27 at the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Lametti said, “provinces and territories will be able to offer single event sports betting products like wagering on the Grey Cup, game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, or the Super Bowl.” He also reiterated the benefit of this development coming from the ability for “provinces and territories to use revenue to fund programming, such as health care or education.”
Involvement of Indigenous Peoples
One common complaint from detractors of Bill C-218 has been the unclear ramifications of how the new legislation will impact Indigenous peoples in the country. 15 native-owned casinos are operating under provincial regimes in Canada at the moment, all of which would be expected to want involvement with single-game sports betting. Lametti stated his desire to “move forward on that part of the file” with Indigenous people being “very sophisticated” and having “well-run gaming operations.”
Next Steps
In Ontario and British Columbia, province-run lottery corporations are reportedly ready to launch their single-game mobile sports betting offerings on August 27. Duncan Hannay, CEO of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, said, “OLG has been looking forward to offering single-event sports wagering to adult Ontarians for many years.” Ontario, the most populated province in Canada, is expected to provide for competitive sports betting market with multiple private operators.
United States corporations have begun to recognize the massive opportunity with sports betting in Canada and will continue to make plans to enter the emerging market. Penn National recently purchased theScore for $2 billion, a hefty sum considering its $40 million in revenue last year. However, theScore is expected to see rapid growth in the sports betting space and hold up to 20% of the market. More US corporations are expected to make similar moves to enter the Canadian market.
