The legal US sports betting industry continues to expand as more and more states enter the market. Almost half of the 50 states now offer legal sports betting in some form. The big push across the country is the expansion into online sports betting through the use of mobile sportsbook apps.
While the US market is growing at an accelerated rate, the top US books are taken a broader perspective these days due to possible changes in the way you can bet on sports legally north of the border.
Currently, legal sports betting in Canada is limited to parley bets run by the government. Proposed changes to the laws would give each province the option to start offering legal betting on single games.
Ontario is Canada’s largest province. It is also the biggest proponent of privatizing the sports betting industry while also adding much more leeway to the type of sports bets that can be placed.
The actual legislation to enact these changes into law is still going through the approval process. The specific piece of legislation is Bill C-218. It is also referred to as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act.
The bill has been passed in the Canadian House of Commons. Currently under review in the Justice Committee, it would still need to gain approval in the Senate.
The primary reason this new legislation was first proposed last November was in direct response to the rapid growth of legal US sports betting. Michigan sportsbooks, as a key border state market just rolled out online sports betting in January.
The move for New York online sportsbooks is picking up steam as another influential state on Canada’s southern border.
Another big concern in Canada is the estimated size of the offshore sportsbook industry operating online. Left unchecked, the current system puts the country at a significant disadvantage on two separate fronts.
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Assuming that Canadian lawmakers continue to move Bill C-218 in the right direction to becoming a law, this new market could further open the doors for US books such as DraftKings, PointsBets, and FanDuel when it comes to the entire North America sports betting market.
At the very least, the passage of Bill C-218 in the Canadian House has caught the eye of gaming industry investors on Wall Street.
More than a few industry analysts have suggested that Canada would model its single-game sports betting system more closely to Delaware sportsbooks, or even New Jersey sportsbooks as the biggest player in the lower 48.
With Ontario leading the way, those same analysts believe that Canada could quickly grow into a $3.5 to $4.5 billion-dollar market. The estimate for Ontario on its own topped $1.6 billion.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins recent made the statement to analysts that “Canada is going to be a really exciting opportunity, should it open up.”
More than a few US gaming stocks have seen their share price increase in recent weeks. Favorable business conditions in the online sports betting segment is a main driving force.
However, favorable developments in the effort to bring single-game sports betting to Canada have also impacted these company’s positive outlook with investors.
