Any move before mega-wager Super Bowl Sunday is unlikely, though
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The Super Bowl has long been the most-watched television event, and New Democrat Member of Parliament Brian Masse was hoping legislation currently before Parliament could have provided CTV, the Canadian broadcaster of next year’s 55th NFL championship game, with a bit of a boost.
On Nov. 26, the federal government introduced Bill C-13 that would decriminalize single-event sports betting, such as on the Super Bowl. Last Thursday, Masse, who represents the Ontario riding of Windsor West and serves as the NDP telecommunications critic, unsuccessfully sought unanimous consent in the House of Commons on a motion to approve the proposed legislation and send it to the Senate.
The bill, however, won’t be up for second reading until Parliament resumes sitting in late January – two weeks before Super Bowl LV on February 7.
Were the law to pass both the Commons and the Senate within that narrow legislative window, CTV might well attract more viewers looking to make some hard cash, and not just take in this year’s half-time show, featuring Canada’s own The Weeknd.
“Broadcasters could benefit by the bill because people could bet on the game at half-time, so they might stay tuned in to the game,” Masse told The Tyee.
Score Media and Gaming Inc., which previously owned The Score Television Network and now operates in the digital sports media space, said in a news release the law would allow Canadians to access the company’s theScore Bet app currently available to sports bettors in three U.S. states: New Jersey, Colorado and Indiana.
According to theScore’s estimates, online gaming in Canada represents a potential market of between US$3.8 billion and US$5.4 billion in annua
l gross gaming revenue. Right now, sports betting can be done, such as through ProLine in Ontario, but players have to choose a minimum of three events and the amounts wagered are limited.
Not surprisingly, the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) also supports the move to decriminalizing single-event sport betting, and backed the idea when Saskatchewan Conservative MP (and former sportscaster) Kevin Waugh (pictured) proposed it in his private member’s Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, earlier this year and which entered the second-reading stage last month and remains alive.
C-218 and the government’s Bill C-13 would amend the Criminal Code to allow the placing of bets on a single game. It would be up to the provinces and territories to offer it, either online or in physical facilities such as casinos. Of course, there is already a sizable grey market economy of friends and family betting on the outcome of various games and tournaments and
“This small change to the Criminal Code would help communities recover from the economic devastation of ongoing COVID-19 shutdown,” said CGA president and CEO Paul Burns in a release.
The Toronto-based national trade organization estimates that only $500 million is wagered through provincial sports-lottery products annually, while about $14 billion is generated per year by black-market bookmakers and unregulated offshore online betting sites. Among the most popular are Bodog.eu (registered in Antigua) and Bet365.com, based in the United Kingdom.
Major sports leagues support single-event betting too, as Waugh highlighted on his website.
The Ontario government is also keen to have the legislation passed, as it highlighted in its 2020 budget. “Legal single-event sports wagering would help support the growth of a competitive online gambling market in the province and, as a popular form of wagering, would also benefit other parts of the gaming sector.”
Waugh, MP for the riding of Saskatoon-Grasswood and a former CTV sportscaster, said pressure for the legislation is most acute in Windsor and Niagara Falls, home to casinos hungry for the business boost that could come from single-event sport betting.
Broadcasters could also get a bounce if either his bill or the government’s, which takes precedence in parliamentary proceedings, gets passed, added Waugh. “TV ratings have been down for hockey and baseball, so maybe it would be a way to keep viewers.”
Sports broadcasters could also expand their content and even get into the betting business as another line of revenue.
Masse, who in early 2016 introduced his own private member’s bill (C-221), which had the same title as Waugh’s (it didn’t pass second reading), said that in addition to potentially increasing their audiences, broadcasters might also see a rise in commercial revenues.
“There will likely be more advertising on since there will be more interest in single-event games,” he explained.
“That’s why I wanted to see this pass before the Super Bowl and that will be the number one event where we will see all kinds of money going to organized crime with bets.”
