Legalized betting in Canada is one step closer
Bill C-218 was voted on and passed overwhelmingly on February 18th, bringing Canadians that much closer to legalized betting
YOU CAN (ALMOST) BET ON IT
Nothing better than launching a NEWSletter with information that’s . . . . . news.
Legalized betting in Canada is one step closer to becoming a reality after Bill C-218 was voted on and passed overwhelmingly Wednesday at second reading in the House of Commons. The Bill will enter into the last phase of hearings with the federal Justice Committee before moving to the Senate and then to the Governor-General for Royal Assent.
Not surprisingly, the folks who make money from sports fans wagering their money, gave two thumbs-up to being on the cusp of single-event sports betting getting the green light.
“Today’s development in the House of Commons, focusing on the legalization of single event sports betting in Canada, is a significant step forward in the process to amend an outdated law,” said John Levy, Founder and CEO of Score Media and Gaming Inc., which has already established a footprint in four U.S. states which have recently legalized sports betting. “We expect that the legalization of single event sports betting will facilitate the introduction by provinces and territories of a much-needed modernized sports betting framework in their respective jurisdictions that can include important consumer protections and the ability to generate new revenue streams for provincial and territorial governments.”
For more on today’s news and background on the bill, Jason Logan has a detailed breakdown here: https://www.covers.com/industry/canada-single-game-sports-betting-vote.
SPORTSBOOK HITTING ACES WITH NOT-QUITE LIVE SCORING
The Daily Mail reported recently that the two governing bodies for professional tennis are delaying live scores on their websites to the benefit of sports betting websites.
Mark Hughes’s reporting revealed that under the terms of the contracts with data companies, “websites owned or funded by bookmakers are permitted to publish live scores ahead of sport’s (the ATP and WTA tours’) official channels in the hope fans will be drawn to them and then be tempted to gamble”. According to Hughes, the men’s tour signed a 10-year deal last year with IMG worth $1.3 billion to distribute its data while the women’s tour recently agreed to a six-year deal with StatsPerform as their official data supplier. That partnership is worth approximately $350 million.
The Daily Mail article reports that more than 500 bookmakers are among the customers of the data. The WTA, in a statement to Hughes, confirmed that the real-time scoring on its own digital properties is delayed. The Grand Slams, which are run independently from the two tours, aren’t affected.
While this deal makes sense for the tours (and the players) in terms of generating revenue, we’re going to keep our own Hawk-Eye on it. After all, as Hughes points out, it was strongly suggested by an independent review panel into match fixing three years ago that the tours stop selling live-scoring data in the face of corruption at the lower levels of professional tennis.
DARTS? YOU BETCHA
Props to The Athletic for giving its betting-inclined readers a Darts for Dummies guide in its recently launched Sports Betting section. Sadly, nary a reference to Canadian darts icon John (Darth Maple) Part, but Jake Lazzo delivers everything you need to know about making a wager on a darts match.
(Editor’s note: You’ll likely need to have The Athletic subscription to read this article)
WHAT ARE THE ODDS
According to Tennis 365, American Jennifer Brady is 16-1 with most sportsbooks to take the opening set in a tiebreaker for the Australian Open women’s final Friday night/early Saturday morning against Naomi Osaka. The favoured Japanese star has similar odds to win the opening set 6-bagel.
And, one-stop shopping to a busy Thursday night of NHL action, including the third Battle of Ontario in four evenings: https://www.thelines.com/betting/nhl-betting-guide/.
QUICK HITS
The largest bank on the planet is betting, figuratively, on the rosy future of sports books.
ScoreBet has added Iowa to its legalized mobile sportsbook footprint.
Speaking of The Score, the guy in charge of marketing and content discusses what legalized sports betting will mean for business in our home and native land.
Christine Dobby, who just moved over to The Toronto Star from The Globe and Mail, weighs in the recent broadcasting layoffs by Bell Canada (check out our Clubhouse chat Thursday at 1 p.m. on what’s happening in Canadian sports media).
Joe Kustelski writes on Gambling Insider about the growing relationship between sports books and media companies.
Off the betting path here, but this newsletter will include a slice of Canadian sports media news at times. One of the greatest sportswriters in our country’s history, Frank Orr, passed away last week at the age of 84.
BY THE NUMBERS
Dustin Johnson is the 6-1 favourite to win this week’s PGA Tour stop at the Genesis Invitational (William Hill sportsbook).
Just in case you were busy shovelling or ordering longjohns, Major League Baseball spring training began Wednesday with pitchers and catchers reporting. DraftKings (and several other sportsbooks) have the LA Dodgers at +350 to repeat as World Series champions.
In case you’re already missing football Sundays, DraftKings have the Kansas City Chiefs as the +525 favourites to win next year’s Super Bowl. No odds yet on who’ll follow The Weekend as the halftime show performer (Michael Buble, anyone. . . . . anyone???)
JOIN US IN THE CLUBHOUSE
Greg McIsaac from Junction Communications and Kevin Kennedy from Homestand Sports are among our guests as we discuss what in the name of Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan is going on in the world of Canadian sports media these days. We’re dropping the puck on the weekly chat at 1 p.m.
You’re invited to participate in the live Gaming News Canada Show every Thursday afternoon and become a featured guest on our podcast, released every Friday.
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