As Super Bowl passes, calls grow to punt ban on single-game betting

`Missing out (on) millions of dollars'

When the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off this Sunday in the Super Bowl, many in the Canadian gambling industry will be hoping it's the end of an era.

The hope is not that Bucs quarterback Tom Brady rides off into the sunset after winning another championship, but rather that the National Football League finale is the last one played with Canada's ban on single-event sports betting still in place.

The prohibition means legal sports bets in this country require a “parlay,” or wagering on the outcome of at least two different events, a restriction aimed at easing concerns around match-fixing. It is also a ban that is living on borrowed time, as the federal government, provinces, professional sports leagues and the gaming industry are all aiming to have it overturned.

However, while there is broad support for ending the ban, it hasn't actually been lifted, meaning Canadian governments will lose out on another chunk of single-game Super Bowl betting revenue to offshore websites and other, perhaps more nefarious, places. Moreover, the ongoing delay comes as companies are champing at the bit to tap the Canadian sports-betting market, if and when they're invited.

Adding to the frustration is that Canada might be the closest it's ever been to overturning the single-game betting ban, as there is government-backed legislation awaiting passage in Ottawa that would bring about its end. Meanwhile, a 2018 decision by the United States Supreme Court has allowed legalized sports betting to take off there, including in states that border Canada and compete for business with this country's casino towns.

“Sunday is the biggest betting day in this country, and we are missing out (on) millions of dollars for our communities,” Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh said Friday during a parliamentary debate on his private member's bill, which would also legalize single-game sports betting in Canada.

Canada's potential take is indeed large. The Canadian Gaming Association estimated in 2015 that more than $150 million would be wagered illegally in the country during Super Bowl weekend, a number that CGA president and CEO Paul Burns says will be at least that this year.

“It's significant money,” Burns said in an interview. “Others will benefit from it again this year, and that's unfortunate.”

The American Gaming Association also anticipates that this year's Super Bowl will “generate the largest single-event legal handle in American sports betting history,” its CEO said this week. About 23.2 million Americans intend to bet a total of US$4.3 billion on this year's game alone, according to the AGA's research.

Provinces want in on the action. British Columbia Lottery Corp. said this week that it was urging Ottawa to pass Bill C-13, the federal government's legislation that would legalize single-event betting, as it would quickly unlock “a new suite” of online sports-betting opportunities. Those opportunities are currently limited to websites operating illegally in the province and in casinos across the border in Washington state, the Crown corporation said.

If the federal government legalizes single-game bets, however, BCLC could tap into the online market and eventually work on setting up licensed sportsbooks in the province's own casinos. It may even someday consider allowing bars that sell lottery products to let patrons place a bet there as they enjoy a pint.

Legalization could ultimately generate an estimated $125 million to $175 million in extra revenue, according to the provincial lottery corporation.

“This is good for consumers, it's good for protecting people and it's good for the gaming industry,” Burns said. “There's positives all around, and that's why we hope they can move the legislation quickly.”

Bill C-13 would decriminalize single-game betting and let provinces and territories regulate it within their borders for wagering on any sport other than federally-managed horse racing. According to the federal government, doing so would pull money away from organized crime, help the economy and generate revenue that could be spent on health care and education, just like the lottery. The government also sees the added transparency as supporting efforts to ensure responsible gambling and to get help for those who need it.

It is notable that the government has thrown its weight behind the effort, as individual members of parliament have been unable in the past to make such a change on their own. However, the government's legalization legislation hasn't really gone anywhere since its first reading; an attempt to accelerate the process in December failed to get unanimous consent in the House of Commons.

In the meantime, sports-betting companies are preparing themselves for legalization and trying to get themselves on Canadians' radar. On Thursday, for example, Boston-based daily fantasy sports firm DraftKings Inc. — which operates a digital sportsbook in several U.S. states — said it had struck an agreement to expand a marketing and content deal with the National Football League to Canada.

Another interested party is Toronto-based Woodbine Entertainment Group, which has a fair amount of gambling infrastructure in place that it is hoping to put to use for sports betting. The company has racetracks in Toronto and Milton, Ont., as well as off-track and remote wagering that it offers via brick-and-mortar locations and its online HPIbet platform.

All told, the company handles more than $1 billion in Canadian wagers a year, including single-event bets that are allowed under horse racing's “pari-mutuel” pooling system, according to Jim Lawson, chief executive of the horse racing operator.

“We could turn on sports wagering within a month if we had to,” the CEO said.

Another Canadian firm eagerly awaiting single-event betting legalization is Score Media and Gaming Inc., which has estimated the market potential for online gaming in Canada as being between US$3.8 billion and US$5.4 billion in annual gross gaming revenue.

The Toronto-based company has already begun to take advantage of legalization in the U.S. TheScore reported nearly four million average monthly active users of its media app during the three-month period ended Nov. 30, but also $55.8 million wagered in the U.S. on its betting app over the same period, an increase of 535 per cent compared to a year earlier.

COULD TURN ON SPORTS WAGERING WITHIN A MONTH.