GAMECHANGER FOR GAMBLERS

House approves single-event sports betting

Legal single-event sports betting in Canada will now enter the home stretch after being approved overwhelmingly Thursday evening by MPS in the House of Commons.

Bill C-218 — the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act — now goes to the Senate for final approval, likely sometime next month.

The private member's bill introduced by MP Kevin Waugh (C — Saskatoon-grasswood) picked up on the decade-long efforts of local MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor-west) who has long pushed to legalize gamblers being allowed to bet on a single game.

“I am pleased that today, Bill C-218 passed the House of Commons with the support of members of Parliament from all parties,” Waugh said.

“The Justice Committee's study on this bill highlighted the fact that legalizing single-event sports betting will create great economic opportunities for Canadian workers, businesses, and employees,” he added.

“It will also ensure that provincial governments have access to the tools necessary to properly regulate sports betting and implement consumer protection and problem gambling programs to protect Canadians.”

Masse said it was a “great relief ” to see the sports betting legislation get through the House.

“A lot of work was done on this to get agreement from all parties,” he said on Friday. “There were limited opportunities to get this to the Senate (this quickly), as opposed to more weeks to come. It was sketchy, but everyone worked together to get this agreed upon.”

It's not the first time similar sports betting legislation has been passed by the House of Commons.

A private member's bill previously initiated by former local MP Joe Comartin and carried further by Masse advanced to the Senate only to be stalled and killed off when an election was called.

Masse is confident that's unlikely to occur again.

“I'm not doing any victory laps on this, yet. We still need the Senate to actually finish the job,” he said.

“But there is much more recognition now by everyone that we are so delayed on a response to this issue. There has been change on the position of sports leagues on this and the world has moved on.”

In 2018, a U.S. Supreme Court decision permitted states on single-event sports betting, and already roughly half have done so, including Michigan.

The only current option for Canadians is to make bets on games online through offshore companies such as Fanduel, Bet365 and Bodog, or through illegal bookmakers.

Waugh has estimated the industry in Canada could generate up to $14 billion annually — money which to date has gone elsewhere.

Getting single-event sports betting approved in this country has been a critical issue for Masse largely because it would also generate hundreds of new jobs to oversee its introduction into Canada, predominantly in border communities like Windsor and Niagara Falls which already have large casino operations.

Most casinos where sports betting is already legalized offer large arena-style gaming rooms with countless televisions and screens with betting options.

“We have already missed some of that market share (by waiting a decade to pass legislation),” Masse said.

“But better to have it now than not at all.”

The legislation, subject to final Senate approval, would amend the Criminal Code and allow each province to establish final rules on how single-event sports betting will be introduced within its borders.