CGA Calls for Expanded Canadian Sports Betting
Earlier this week the Vancouver Sun ran an article which highlighted how only a fraction of the $10 billion or more wagered on sports each year in Canada is conducted 'legally'.
According to a recent study by the Canadian Gaming Association, a mere $450 million of that sum is wagered through government approved sports betting sites such as Sports Action.
Up to $4 billion of the money is spent at offshore online betting sites such as Bet365 and Bodog, said the report. The rest of the money is wagered through private Canadian bookmakers.
The Vice President of the Canadian Gaming Association, Paul Burns, said that these numbers show just how much Canadians want to wager on single sports events.
"It's clear Canadians want to do this because they're spending billions on it each year," he said. "It's time legitimate Canadian gaming operators are given a chance to compete on a level playing field."
That level playing field could come in the form of a new bill being introduced by Joe Comartin, the Windsor-Tecumseh MP who wants to make it legal for Canadians to wager on the outcome of single games.
Currently, they are restricted to wagering on the outcome of two or more games. The catch would be that the bets would need to be placed at government run online betting sites.
The newspaper also quoted the Vice President of the BC Lottery Corp, Kevin Gass, who predicted that Sports Action and the lottery group's PlayNow.com website would attract more gamblers if they offered single game wagering.
A Call for Betting at Canadian Racetracks
Also rooting for MP Comartin's bill to pass is Canada's horseracing industry. "Canadian racetrack operators say sportsbooks that offer betting on single games would be a natural fit for existing horse racing operations," says the Vancouver Sun.
The publication quotes the VP of the Great Canadian Gaming Corp. Howard Blank as saying that there is a definite correlation between people who love racing and people who love sports betting.
"They treat it like a science and study all the factors, which they believe gives them an edge on the odds," he said.
Blank said that since there are already racebooks at Canadian casinos, it would be a simple process to add the sports component.
In addition, introducing government regulation to the industry would also allow authorities to spot irregularities and attempts to fix sports results.
"It's not like betting doesn't occur on their games," said the Burns regarding the CGA's call for expanded sports betting. "It's just that most of it is done illegally."
