CANADA SPORTS BETTING EXPANSION COULD CREATE ONE OF THE LARGEST SPORTS BETTING MARKETS IN NORTH AMERICA

Single-game sports wagers are now legal in Canada. Since PASPA was overturned in 2018 in the United States, the country has seen a great sports betting market arise. And, their neighbor to the north, Canada is hoping to see the same gains.

Back in August, Canada approved Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, which legalized single-game sports wagers. Now, parlay betting was already legal in Canada. But, the legalization of single-game sports bets has now given Canada’s provinces the ability to launch Canada sports betting.

This means that Canadian sports betting sites will now be able to launch en masse, which could bring a big boon to the country’s sports betting market. Canadian parlay betting was already fairly popular countrywide. But, the launch of single-game sports betting is expected to give the country a more rounded sports betting market.

The hope is that even more sports fans will be drawn to sports betting with this new option. And, that could equal a large tax revenue influx from sports betting for Canada.

Bill C-218, the Canadian sports betting bill, was able to pass on August 27th by a large margin in the Senate, which was 57-20. This gave the country’s provinces the ability to decide on sports betting on their own. This bill legalized single-game wagers for all sporting events with the exception of horse race betting.

The President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, Paul Burns, indicated that he felt this was a significant decision for the Canadian government. He has been a proponent for the legalization of single-game betting in Canada ever since PASPA was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in 2018.

Burns feels that this is a huge achievement and milestone when it comes to the Canadian gaming industry. It is an achievement ten years in the making and had a large amount of support from stakeholders in the country. He feels this extension of Canada sports betting will bring economic benefits to Canada that are needed.

The Canada sports betting market should be huge because of a number of factors. The country’s residents were already introduced to sports betting because they had legal parlay betting. And, offshore sportsbooks will have the chance to become regulated sportsbooks, which means even more sportsbooks will be applying for licenses.

Canada’s population is also quite sizable, topping out at 38 million people. Now, sports betting legalization will be up to each individual province in the country. So, each area of the country should be open for interested parties to launch single-game betting. A best-case scenario for sports betting revenue in Canada with the launch of single-game sports bets is an intake of $25 billion in total from both online and retail handle yearly.

This estimation has been made for the third full year where legal sports betting has been launched. Using the United States as a model, it is estimated that over 80% of Canada’s sports betting handle would come from online sports betting.

If this model holds true, $2 billion in operator revenue would be generated. This would equal anywhere between $200 million and $400 million in yearly tax revenue for the country.

The largest Canadian sports betting market is Ontario. The hope is that Ontario will be able to see $11 billion in sports bets on its own. That intake would generate at least $800 million in operator revenue each year.

If this model ends up being accurate, Ontario could become one of the largest sports betting markets in North America. This market would rival the booming sports betting markets of New Jersey and even Nevada in the United States.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.