It was recently announced that Parliament passed the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act. This means that Canada is one step away from having legal sports betting.
Also, Bill C-218, that contemplates single-game sports betting, will enter its final phase of hearings before passing to the Senate.
In fact, the bill has passed the second reading at the House of Commons, 303-15. So the scenario is quite promising, and no significant setbacks are expected.
Along with bill C-218, Bill C-13, which has the government’s support, is on the way to being debated in a second reading.
There are no significant differences between what the bill C-13 and C-218 raise, so the House will determine which one needs to move to the Senate.
If any of the bills succeed, it would only be necessary for the ten provinces and three Canadian territories to decide how to handle single-game bets.
Provincial lotteries currently offer sports betting in Canada, but they do so in a parlay-only format. Because the criminal code prohibits single-game sports betting.
Operators on their marks
Depending on how things go between June and September, sports betting could be legal in Canada.
Aware of this, large operators such as DraftKings are already preparing to serve Canadian gamblers. In fact, the company already has an agreement with the Canadian Football League.
Other operators, such as the Canadian Score Media and Gaming Inc, also prepare their platforms to serve a market that currently, with all its restrictions, moves $500 million in sports bets.
But the big operators are not the only ones who should prepare their businesses to serve the Canadian market.
Pay Per Head bookies can also take action to enter the Canuck market.
In fact, Pay Per Head bookies can start serving Canadian gamblers right away.
As stated by legal expert Michael Lipton in an article in Legal Gambling and the Law. Offshore Sportbooks are in a legal gray zone. And there is no record of prosecutions of a Canadian bettor who has used the betting services of an offshore operator.
For this reason, Pay Per Head bookies can quickly start offering their betting services to Canadian gamblers.
If the bookies have a good Pay Per Head provider. They will serve any Canuck bettor and offer betting lines for the most popular sports in the land of the maple leaf, such as hockey, basketball, and even curling.
