Could TheScore Bet be Heading to Canada
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The plans are in Canadiana Parliament’s works to legalize single-game sports betting in the country. Since the 1990s, Canada has had legal sports betting, but only parlay betting in the country. The country up north has also seen a monopoly in the sports betting industry as one or two sportsbooks are operating in each province.
With Canada’s possibility of expanding its sports betting industry, TheScore Bet could be launching in the country. The Toronto-based sports media company launched TheScore Bet a few years ago and has seen some success in the U.S. TheScore originally started as a sports media outlet providing up to the minute scores and stats and offered news users to read.
“I think when we look at the two markets, we look at the dramatic differences in terms of our reach, and our brand recognition, and look everybody in Canada knows theScore,” CEO John Levy said. TheScore is one of Canada’s most popular sports media outlets and could see exponential growth if the country moves forward with single-game betting.
Canada Betting Laws
Canada legalized sports betting in the early 1990s but only allowed parlay betting available. Each province began to legalize wagering, and similar to the U.S., the provinces decide on the sports betting rules for themselves. Each province has one or two sportsbooks operating in the state, which has increasingly hurt the industry.
This hurts bettors in Canada as the odds offered from sportsbooks are not the most friendly due to the created monopoly.
Canada currently sees roughly $1 billion annually from sports betting. If Canada were to expand to single-game wagering, then the country could see $14 billion in gross annual revenue once the market matures. With U.S. states like Michigan, New York, and New Hampshire legalizing sports betting, it could put more pressure on Canada to change its betting laws.
Canadians will have more opportunities to come to the U.S. to place wagers instead of making parlay bets with odds that aren’t friendly for bettors.
Towards the end of 2020, Canada filed a bill to allow single-game wagering and is slowly moving through Parliament. Right now, there is no guarantee that things will be completed in 2021, but the bill is moving in a positive direction.
TheScore Bet Potential
TheScore is based out of Toronto, chomping at the bit, waiting for Canada to move forward with sports betting. TheScore sees an average of 3.9 million active users per month, which will be a great starting point for the sports media outlet if Canada expands single-game betting.
In the U.S., roughly half of the users that use TheScore Bet app also use TheScore for its media outlet. With the company based in Toronto, this should be more if TheScore launches in its home country. TheScore is also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is a boost for its business.
TheScore has an opportunity to expand into both the U.S. and Canada depending on what happens up north. The Tronto based betting operator will continue to push for Canadian betting expansion and try to capitalize in two countries.
