Each week, Canada Sports Betting recaps all the top sports betting and iGaming news in Canada and highlights upcoming events
Our top stories this week
- CFL Week 16 Odds, Betting Preview: Argonauts Look To Avenge Labour Day Classic Defeat
- 2024/25 NHL Points, Standings, Stanley Cup Futures Preview: Atlantic Division
- Crosby Continues Penguin For Life Pursuit With New Extension
- How To Approach Your NHL Vezina Trophy Handicapping
- Bills Already Moving Upward On NFL Futures Markets
- Thursday Night Football Betting Preview (Sept. 19): Patriots vs. Jets Predictions
ALC looking for new President/CEO
The Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) is officially beginning its search for a new President and CEO, following the announcement that Patrick Daigle, who has assumed the position since 2021, will be retiring in 2025 after a 27-year run with the Crown corporation.
Daigle served in a number of proven senior leadership in a number of corporate services including all aspects of finance, supply-chain management, legal services, risk management, board governance and information security.
ALC reported in its 2022-32 annual report that it returned $492.2 million to fund provincial services and programs while recording $843.9 million in gross operating revenue across its lottery, sports betting, and iCasino products. The corporation’s igaming net revenue increased by 30.2% over the previous year. Net revenue in the sports category was $17.2 million, representing an increase of $2.4 million or 16.3% over the previous year. At 81% of sales, parlay betting was the most popular form of wagering with the PROLINE player base, which grew by 1.4% year-over-over, helping to maintain strong profit margins.
ALC services sports bettors and online casino players in the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The government-run PROLINE platform is currently the only legal avenue to bet on sports in the region.
ALC is one of the five provincial gaming corporations that formed a coalition against illegal online gambling.
BCLC becomes Grey Cup sponsor
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the Canadian Football League have partnered to make BCLC’s sportsbook, PlayNow, the official sports betting partner of the 111th Grey Cup, which will be played in Vancouver later this November.
“BCLC is immensely proud to have PlayNow Sports as the official sports betting partner for the 111th Grey Cup,” said Dan Beebe, BCLC’s COO, in a release. “As a social-purpose company, BCLC works every day to generate win-wins for the greater good and serve in the best interests of the communities we call home. We’re thrilled to help bring together BC Lions and CFL fans from across the country in the spirit of celebration and community at this year’s Grey Cup Festival.”
The CFL and BCLC will be holding a special contest for fans with prizes including tickets and travel expenses to the Grey Cup and $500 in free bets at PlayNow, which is available in B.C., Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
BCLC is the only legal provider of online gambling in the province of British Columbia and it boasts one of the most innovative and progressive responsible gambling programs in North America, GameSense.
Responsible sports wagering, and the entertainment it provides, is an important part of the future of CFL fandom,” said Tyler Keenan, the CFL’s Chief Revenue Officer. “Our work with BCLC allows fans to deepen their connection to the league, but more importantly, it strengthens our efforts to support British Columbians and the community through the valued programs and services they rely on every day.”
All proceeds from the Crown corporation are reinvested back into provincial programs.
There are currently no plans in British Columbia to adopt a regulated online gambling market, like in Ontario and soon to be implemented in Alberta.
CGA commissions ‘rapid review’ of impacts of gambling ads
The Canadian Gaming Association, a national trade association that represents leading operators and suppliers in Canada’s gaming, sports betting, eSports, and lottery industries, has commissioned a “rapid review” of available academic literature on the impacts of gambling advertising.
Dr. Kahlil Philander, a specialized researcher in the gambling field based out of Vancouver, was contracted for the study titled: Gambling Ads in Canada: An Academic and Policy Study of the Ontario Model.
The purpose of the 52-page review was to assess the academic publications from the last 10 years on gambling advertising and its impact on consumers’ gambling intentions and behaviours, in addition to examining existing regulatory measures in Ontario, and a comparison of those rules to other leading jurisdictions, in an attempt to understand the role of marketing and the effectiveness of the advertising regulatory framework.
In aggregate, the review found that regulatory policies are evolving at a faster rate than the accompanying evidence base. They caution the misalignment may lead to regulations that are either overreaching relative to their intended goals or insufficiently nuanced, thus failing to address the subtleties of modern gambling advertising practices.
Here’s the current process process for a sports ad to be broadcast on television in Ontario:
To benchmark Ontario’s ruleset, the study compared its regulatory framework and specific body of rules to four jurisdictions: the United Kingdom (U.K.), Denmark, Michigan, and New Jersey.
The review found that, as a whole, online gambling advertising rules in Ontario are slightly more permissive than those in the U.K., substantively comparable to those in Denmark, and stricter than those in Michigan and New Jersey.
Sports betting advertising has been a hot-button issue in Ontario, and across Canada, since Ontario adopted a regulated online gambling model in April 2022. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced enhanced advertising restrictions with the intent to protect minors last August after receiving lots of public backlash on the issue. However, measures were never put in place to restrict the sheer volume of sports betting advertising.
More research on this topic is expected to be released later this year by the Toronto-based Responsible Gambling Council in conjunction with Flutter (FanDuel, PokerStars, etc.).
The full review is attached below for those interested in diving deeper.
