Canada dropped the ball on sports betting

Letting the U.S. do it first cost us our edge, Harley Redlick writes.

Canada allows its provinces to run sports betting lotteries.

But it just dropped the ball on sports betting in a big way and now finds itself playing catch-up with the United States.

Even though we are the more liberal country in terms of legalizing recreational drugs, our old-fashioned sports betting views are about to cost jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars — and will continue to make our underground bookmakers rich.

Section 207(4)( b) of Canada’s criminal code is clear — governments can run lotteries, but they do not allow wagers on single sporting events.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. in Ontario does offer ProLine and sports betting, but players must wager on multiple events or parlays. If you want to legally bet on a Stanley Cup game in Canada, you must also wager on other games on the same ticket ( baseball or soccer as it occurs in the summer). This decreases your chances of winning.

This rule was set to change in Canada. Advocated by Brian Masse, Windsor’s MP, Bill-C221 was set to re-write the criminal code by allowing Canadians to bet on a single sporting event (like the Super Bowl), run by the provincial lotteries, in a safe environment. Masse spoke at the Gaming Law program I run, explaining how Windsor casino and other border casinos would benefit from Americans driving north to wager on their favourite sports teams.

Jobs and money would flow north of the border as progressive Canada allowed single sports betting.

The U.S. does not really allow sports betting outside of Nevada, so Americans in upstate New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Washington would be way closer to legal sports betting in Canada than in any part of the U.S.

Canada would create beautiful sports books at its casinos, with food, supersized TVs and legal sports betting. However, this was not to be as the federal Liberals quashed the bill in 2016. Ironically, the Liberals explained fears of “match fixing ” and game integrity as reasoning.

Ironic, as the NBA and MLB are now advocating for legal sports betting. Monday, the U.S. Supreme court paved the way for legal sports betting in the majority of states in the next couple years.

A couple of border states could have it in time for the NFL this fall and a lot of Americans will be legally betting on the Super Bowl come February.

The conservative U.S., with a Republican leader, will have single sports betting, while progressive Canada, with a Liberal leader, does not. This will not last. Canada will follow the U.S. and legalize single sports betting within a couple years to ensure its casinos and economy do not lose jobs and money to the U.S.

It is just a shame we always have to react to the U.S. versus proactively doing the right thing when we have the chance.