Single-event sports betting bill to be discussed in Canada

The bill C-221 has been submitted as a private member’s bill, so it is not part of the federal government’s legislative agenda.

The text simply repeals a part of the criminal code so as to allow Canadian provinces to “conduct and manage a lottery scheme in the province that involves betting on a race or fight or on a single sport event or athletic contest.”

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The bill does have a chance of becoming law, but the final outcome is difficult to handicap. The bill, formerly presented as C-290 in the last parliamentary session, failed to pass

 

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The bill is strongly supported in Masse’s home constituency of Windsor, which sits on the border with the U.S. Across the Detroit River lies Michigan, where State Senator Mike Kowall has just submitted his bill to introduce state regulated online gambling. The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce just convened a strategy session in Ottawa, specifically to raise support for the new measure.

There is a Caesars casino in Windsor, and Chamber of Commerce President Matt Marchand believes that the bill would provide much needed support for the local economy.

“This would be a new gaming product and would allow Caesars Windsor to be first in the market place,” said Marchand. “And we know once people experience Caesars Windsor they will come back and that will help drive tourism, jobs and revenue for the region.”

The option to offer sports betting could give Canadian casinos an advantage over their rivals in Michigan and Ohio. Marchand believes that there would be an extra 100 jobs created at the Caesars casino with legal sports betting, with the potential for many more.

The bill does have a chance of becoming law, but the final outcome is difficult to handicap. The bill, formerly presented as C-290 in the last parliamentary session, failed to pass.

“We have been working with a number of different groups and MPs and senators to line this up,” said Masse. He has argued that sports betting generates around $10bn per year, and that legislation is the best way to prevent criminal elements from dominating the market. "It’s about redirecting money from organized crime to that of a regulated, safer, accountable process,” remarked.