The BC Lottery Corporation is calling on the federal government to legalize single event betting.
Director of e-Gaming Stewart Groumoutis says there is a requirement in the criminal code that prohibits betting on single events, or racing or fighting which was done a long time ago to protect the integrity of sports and sports leagues. He says that requirement is very outdated.
“There’s a lot of different ways of trying to predict what the size of the market is. It’s obviously very difficult with illegal operators, we don’t have visibility into their play. However, we have looked at it as an opportunity between $125 million to $175 million in additional revenue for the province of BC.”
In order to legally gamble on sports in BC right now, you need to make a minimum of two separate wagers, but Groumoutis thinks there is a strong appetite this time around to see changes made to those regulations.
“It seems like this time all parties are aligned and everything is aligned including the sports leagues. The last time that this came before the senate there were a number of leagues that weren’t comfortable with sports betting. However, since that happened a number of years ago obviously North America has quite a significant shift in sports betting culture. So we feel like it’s poised to succeed this time as it goes through.”
Meanwhile, a Conservative MP who brought forward a private members bill to legalize single event betting says all province’s are on board to change the legislation. Kevin Waugh says a second reading on his bill C-218 goes on February 5 and a vote on it will take place on February 17. He notes that the Liberal’s have their own bill C-13, which was supposed to go for second reading earlier this year but has since been delayed.
“I’m forcing the government now to move ahead with their C-13. Twice, once in December and once last Friday, they pulled the bill when it was listed. Meaning they decided at the last moment is wasn’t that important” says Waugh. “So to save this bill I retained my slot bill C-218.”
Waugh believes that all non-Liberal MP’s are ready to vote in favour of his private members bill. “Either my bill or C-13. BC is a little more advanced. They’re waiting for this bill to get passed and when it does get passed I believe the province of BC will be one of the first jurisdictions to have single game betting.”
Waugh believes that BCLC has really underestimated how much money is being lost because of this issue. He estimates that in Canada alone more than $14 billion in revenue could be gained by legalizing single event bets.
