iGaming turns its focus to sports betting
This past year has seen all casinos worldwide suffer due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, online betting and iGaming has greatly improved. In Canada, there has now been a move to legalize single-game sports betting, something that has been called for, for years, within the industry.
Currently, while sports betting in some forms is legal in Canada, single-game betting is not. And this is what that new, proposed legislation seeks to overturn. In short, the legislation would mean that punters would no longer be betting illegally if they were to make single-game sports bets, but the amendment has yet to pass.
Why bring in single-game betting?
So, what are Canadians currently allowed to do when it comes to sports betting? At this time, Canadians can only make Parlay bets. This means placing bets on multiple different sporting events at the same time. These types of bets can have huge payouts if players get them right, but the likelihood of this happening is relatively small meaning that this type of betting definitely favors the bookies.
By legalizing single-game betting, Canadian punters would be able to bet on just one event at a time. Of course, it’s still possible for Canadians to participate in this if the betting site is located off-shore.
In addition to this, Canadians can enjoy this type of betting on the black market. In fact, it seems that Canadians spend billions of dollars on single-game bets, most of which are outside the country. Those that are pushing for this amendment to go through having some strong cases to do so. They argue that legalizing this will bring in jobs and also have a huge economic benefit.
It will mean that consumers are protected with revenue now being legal instead. Money from this can also be fed back into the industry via addiction and self-help responsible gambling programs.
The situation now
At this time, the amendment has been read once already and is now undergoing its second reading. The bill has been authored by the New Democratic Party and is currently heading into a final vote with the country’s federal legislators. Sources state that this new act, listed as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act for bookmakers, already has support from all online casinos as well as support from the major professional sports leagues within the country including soccer, baseball, and all-important hockey. This looks likely to ensure a rapid push for this law to go through and come into effect soon.
As such, it is looking very likely that it will pass, and pass swiftly, possibly even coming into effect within the first half of 2021. Excitingly, this will mean that Canadians will have something to look forward to as we leave 2020 behind! In addition to this, this bill is great in that this very small step will actually help communities across the country bounce back after the economic issues that Covid-19 has caused.
Stay tuned, as this situation is continuing to unfold and we’re ready to give you blog updates on this bill when it all comes to pass!
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