TheScore Eyes Future in Canada Mobile Sports Betting Market
It’s virtually guaranteed that single-event betting is on its way into Canadian law books. With it will come a massive new market for sports gambling. Every casino will be looking to install a sportsbook. Assuming federal laws will closely mimic those in the United States, opening the doors to competition between operators, provincial regulators will be racing to authorize and license as many online and mobile sports betting brands as are willing to pay the no-doubt-exorbitant fee.
Our southerly neighbors have already legalized sports betting in 20 states and the District of Columbia (a.k.a. Washington, D.C.) Competition is fierce down south, with big names like DraftKings, FanDuel, WilliamHill, and BetRivers dominating the region’s industry. Those same brands are expected to flock northward when the time comes, but they may find a more formidable foe in Toronto-based Score Media.
TheScore Eyes Canada Mobile Sports Betting Market
Score Media & Gaming, owner of the sports news mobile app and media giant, theScore, and the sports wagering app, theScore Bet, may be flagging against major competitor brands on US soil, but in Canada, its popularity is unrivaled. On Wednesdays, the free sports mobile app jumped into the #1 position on the CA Google Play Store.
According to a report in Bloomberg, Score Media says it currently caters to around 4 million active users, with over 1.4 million logging in from Ontario alone.
Bear in mind, Canadian users are not (yet) able to place bets via theScore’s mobile applications. For now, they are privy only to the popular sports news network. The good news for Score Media is that, being so adored by local sports fans, if and when its Canadian mobile betting app goes live here, it could easily jump into the number one spot, surpassing the biggest companies operating in the U.S. market.
Plans Underway to Launch theScore Bet Canada
Score Media CEO John Levy and his son, COO Benjie Levy, are already making plans to launch theScore’s real money sports betting app in their home country of Canada. For now, the mobile sportsbook app is available only in three US states – Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey.
The Toronto firm saw its stocks rise 111% on the year. Most of that came in the final weeks of 2020, following the late-November introduction of the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act by Federal Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada, David T. Lametti. That bill introduce the one thing Canadians have never had legal, local access to, straight-up, single-event sports wagers.
According to analysts with Credit Suisse, “Assuming full legalization in Canada, we think this could be a $4 billion revenue opportunity.” The bill, which is being hailed as a sure-thing by political experts, will be a major topic of discussion when Parliament reconvenes later this month.
MP Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor-Tecumseh) is optimistic that the legislation will move quickly, and with an affirmative response. “We’re hopeful that we can actually move this process along quickly,” he said in a statement. There’s always the possibility of opposition, but Kusmierczyk added, “it does feel as though there’s support among all three parties.”
If and when the Canada mobile sports betting market opens, Score Media CEO John Levy says his company will introduce “the best damn sports media company in the betting space.”
All new Pickering Casino Resort to open in GTA next month.
A huge
celebration will take place just four weeks from now. Great
Canadian Gaming (GCG) has announced it will host the long-awaited
grand opening of its newest casino next month. Situated just east of
Toronto, the all new Pickering Casino is sure to attract a lot
of attention from both locals and tourists.
Construction
crews are still on site, working at full speed to complete the final
stages of the build. GCG is confident that the project will be
completed by the second week of April; so confident they’ve set an
official date for the grand opening. It’s a launch several years in
the making, and one that comes with additional phases in the months
ahead.
Pickering Casino Resort Grand Opening April 8,
2020
GCG has
scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Wednesday, April 8, 2020.
The mid-week party date was intentional, no doubt, as these events
tend to come with door prizes for the first however-many guests.
Hosting the celebration on a Wednesday should cut down on the number
of tourists, making it more convenient for locals to enjoy the
festivities.
The grand
opening celebration is expected to draw a decent amount of attention
as the city’s residents have been hearing about this project for
the last few years. No doubt thousands of locals will be eager to
explore the property and see what GCG has spent so much time, money
and effort putting together.
It was initially
believed that the opening of Pickering Casino would spell the end of
Ajax Casino at Ajax Down. After all, the new Pickering site is
only a 10-12 minute drive from the Ajax gambling destination, also
managed by GCG. However, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp
(OLG) decided to keep the Slots at Ajax Downs, thereby preserving
racing venue, as well as the jobs of many of that location’s
employees. The attraction to Pickering’s new casino will be a) its
proximity to Toronto, and b) the availability of live dealer table
games.
According to the
official website, the Phase
One launch will include “over 2,000 Slot Machines, 100 Live
Table Games, and 167 Live Dealer Stadium Gaming terminals.”
Restaurant menus are said to offer fine dining, pub fare, an “upscale
buffet”, and more.
Opposition Still Wary of Market Saturation
The Grater
Toronto Area (GTA) is already home to several gambling facilities.
Many did – and still do – argue over the need for new gambling
property in the Durham region. GCG may have dibs on most of the
area’s gambling revenue, but the owners of Casino Rama
aren’t so pleased with the situation.
Casino Rama,
located 115km north of Toronto, was opened in 1996 by the Chippewa of
Rama First Nation. For more than two decades, it was the area’s
largest and most visited casino; among the most famous in all of
Ontario, outside of the Niagara Falls region. Now, its owners fear
the property will eventually be unable to sustain operations as they
lose patrons from Ajax, Markham and Pickering. Additional expansions
at GCG’s Casino Woodbine and Great Blue Heron Casino
in western GTA don’t bode well for them, either. And no doubt it’s
going to get worse before it gets better.
Hotel and Arena to Open by End of 2020
Before the year
is out, construction on Phase Two of the
Pickering Casino Resort should be complete as well. When it is, the
property will be welcoming the first guests to its 275-room luxury
hotel tower. Adjacent to that will be a 2,500 seat arena, promising
to host year-round concerts, theatre performances, and other live
events.
Ontario is raising the stakes w/ a PlayOLG welcome bonus package
worth up to $300 in free casino credits.
I remember it
wasn’t all that long ago that I was reporting on the lack of
promotional offerings at any of Canada’s provincially regulated
online casinos. The laws were defined in such a way that incentives
were unlawful, making it impossible for these operator’s to compete
with their internationally-regulated rivals overseas. That is clearly
no longer the case.
Provincial
governments soon discovered that, without a promotional package,
their own citizens had no interest in partaking in the meager
offerings of home-grown iGaming sites like Ontario’s PlayOLG.
It wasn’t until amendments to the law gave these online casinos the
option to promote welcome bonuses and other incentives that players
began taking notice. Now, the promotions are so attractive, they
easily rival those of offshore operations.
PlayOLG Welcome Bonus Package Worth $300
PlayOLG, the
iGaming platform of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp (OLG),
has a lofty newcomer bonus on its menu. First-time depositors are
invited to take advantage of three consecutive deposit bonuses, each
delivering a 100% match of up to $100.
Each offer may be
redeemed by entering the corresponding bonus code:
First
Deposit earns 100% up to $100 bonus match with promo code: first
Second
Deposit earns 100% up to $100 bonus match with promo code:
second
Third Deposit earns 100% up to $100 bonus match with promo
code: third
Promotional Terms To Be Considered
As always there are certain conditions attached to the redemption of
a bonus, and the fulfillment of wagering requirements before any
winnings can be cashed out. In this case, PlayOLG has attached the
following terms:
Minimum qualifying deposit to receive a bonus is $15.
Minimum deposit to receive the full $100 bonus is $100.
Only residents of Ontario who are 19 or older are eligible to redeem
a welcome bonus at PlayOLG.
The player’s cash deposit will be credited to their “cash
balance” account.
The player’s bonus will be credited to their “bonus balance”
account.
The combined total of the “cash” and “bonus” balances shall
be displayed as the “total balance” while playing eligible games
(see Eligible Games and Wagering Requirements below).
The welcome package promotion detailed above expires on January 31,
2020.
Eligible Games and Wagering Requirements
PlayOLG’s new player bonuses come with some of the most generous
wagering requirements (WR) the industry has ever seen. Players are
only required to complete WR of 10x the bonus amount. If the full
$100 bonus is claimed, 10x WR would require play through of $1,000 in
bets.
That’s far more attractive than the average 40x play through of a
deposit and bonus combined. However, there is a 30 day
expiration period. WR must be completed within the 30 days or the
entire bonus will be forfeit. The same forfeiture applies if the
player attempts to request a cashout before completing WR.
Long story short, these are the easiest wagering requirements you’ll
come across – don’t mess it up!
Eligible games, and their percentage-based contribution towards WR,
are as follows:
PlayOLG Games
WR %
Slot Machines
100%
Instant Win Games (Casino)
100%
Fast Poker
50%
Blackjack Games
10%
Texas Hold’em Games
10%
Let It Ride
10%
Sic Bo
10%
Three Card Poker
10%
War
10%
Baccarat Games*
0%
Roulette Games*
0%
Video Poker Games*
0%
Lottery Games*
0%
*Only funds available in the player’s “cash balance” will
appear as their “total balance” when playing any game that counts
0% towards WR contribution.
For the complete PlayOLG welcome bonus rules, please visit the
website directly.
Review: InstaDebit or iDebit for Online Casino Deposits?
If you intend to play online casino games for real money, there are
a lot of questions that should be going through your mind. “Which
game(s) should I play?” is a common one, but there are some much
more important questions to be answered first – namely, which
casinos are safe, and how do I securely transfer money in and out of
my account?
We’ve covered the first section at length, detailing how to find
legitimate
online casinos that accept Canadian players. Today, we’re
going to talk about two long-time favorites in the Canadian iGaming
payments market, how they compare and contrast, and which one works
best for financing an internet gambling account – iDebit or
InstaDebit?
“Wait… aren’t iGaming payments iDebit and InstaDebit the same thing?”
No, they are not the same thing. Don’t feel bad if you were thought
they were. It’s a very common misconception. A lot of people have
just assumed over the years that iDebit is an abridged nickname for
InstaDebit. They are, in fact, two very different banking methods,
with two distinct logos, and three antithetical properties worthy of
note.
#1 Supported Banks: InstaDebit works with any and all
Canadian banks, whereas iDebit only serves the nation’s seven
largest banks (see complete list of iDebit
supported banks).
#2 Cost to Deposit: iDebit charges a smaller, flat fee of
$1.50 to transfer funds from a bank account to a merchant site
(i.e. online casino), whereas iDebit charges a $1.95 fee per
bank-to-merchant transaction.
#3 Accepted Currencies: iDebit will facilitate payments in any
major currency, giving iGamers a wider variety of international
online casinos to choose from. InstaDebit facilitates transfers in
CAD and USD only; thus CAD/USD deposits and withdrawals must
be supported. Either way, players will be subject to the same-day
currency exchange rate.
Otherwise, these two payment methods are virtually mirrors of one
another.
Similarities: Both require the user to register a free account
and link it to their bank account. Both are available only in Canada,
drawing funds directly from the linked bank account for the purpose
of making a purchase/deposit. All withdrawals/refunds are sent to the
user’s iDebit/InstaDebit account. When this account has funds in it,
any purchases up to the available amount will automatically be drawn
from this account. Any purchases exceeded the available amount will
come entirely from the bank account; split payments are not
permitted. Funds in the user’s iDebit or InstaDebit account can be
transferred back to the user’s bank for a flat fee of $2.00.
iDebit for Online Casino Deposits
Making an iDebit deposit at online casinos is a simple process. You
must first register an iDebit account, link your bank account to it,
then verify that the account is yours. This can take anywhere from a
minute to a full business day, depending on the speed and efficiency
of your bank, but once it’s done, you’ll have instant access
24/7/365.
To make a deposit, visit any reputable online casino that accepts
Canadian players and lists iDebit as an eligible payment option.
Register an account if you don’t already have one. Next, head to the
banking section, select Deposit, choose iDebit, and enter the amount
you wish to transfer.
You’ll be directed to the iDebit website to log in and confirm the
purchase. Assuming you have sufficient funds in your iDebit or bank
account (+$1.50 to cover cost of transfer from bank, if applicable),
the funds will appear in your online casino account within moments.
Making a withdrawal is just as easy, but takes up to 3-5 days (after
the casino’s 24-48 hour pending period) to appear in your iDebit.
InstaDebit for Online Gambling Payments
The instructions for making an InstaDebit deposit at online casinos
are almost exactly the same. First, you’ll need an InstaDebit
account; registration is free. Link that to your bank account and
verify that it’s yours by following the instructions on the screen.
Choose any distinguished online casino where Canadian players and
InstaDebit payments are accepted. Sign up an account if needed, then
head over to the Cashier page and choose to Deposit with InstaDebit.
Enter the amount you wish to deposit and press continue.
You’ll be directed to the InstaDebit website. Login and confirm the
transfer. If enough funds are in your InstaDebit account, they will
immediately be moved to your casino account, free of charge.
Otherwise, a $1.95 fee will be applied to transfer the funds directly
from your bank account (if sufficient), and credited to your online
casino balance within moments.
Future looking bright for Canada’s largest casino firm.
The executive board members of Great Canadian Gaming (GCG) are
putting on their shades after last week’s gleaming revenue report
highlighted excellent second quarter results with a brilliant outlook
for the next half of 2019. Revenues and shares were up, divestments
and projects were completed, and new partnerships were forged.
GCG Chief Executive Officer Rod Baker is particularly pleased with
the company’s performance over the last three months ending June 30,
2019, and is looking forward to a very bright future – especially
in Ontario, where a powerful focus is resulting in the most growth.
He believes its the company’s “disciplined approach” to
fortifying GCG’s infrastructure with strategic expenditures that’s
driving the firm ahead at such a phenomenal pace.
Revenues Soar for Canada’s Largest Casino Firm
In the financial highlights segment of last Tuesday’s GCG second
quarter (Q2) 2019 earnings conference
call, Baker noted a 20% increase in revenue, rising from
$295.2 million in Q2-18 to $354.4 million in Q2-19. He attributed the
boost in revenue to a variety of rationale:
One extra month of operations at properties in the company’s West
GTA Gaming Bundle, compare to the same time period last year.
Additional revenue from newly introduced table games at Woodbine
Casino.
Additional revenue from expanded gaming opportunities at Elements
Casino Mohawk.
Heightened revenue from East Gaming Bundle following grand openings
of Shorelines Casino Peterborough (Oct. 15, 2018) and Shorelines
Slots at Kwartha Downs (Dec. 19, 2018).
GCG’s expenditure budget for the Ontario Gaming Bundle was nearly
doubled year over year from $12.7 million to $23.6 million in Q2-19.
Revenue also rose in the British Columbia market, but the increase
was attributed primarily to a single occurrence – a labour
disruption at Hard Rock Casino Vancouver “that resulted in limited
gaming and hospitality offerings for a portion of 2018.”
Shareholders earnings were a topic of much rejoicing during the
conference call. GCG’s investors experienced net earnings of $48
million ($0.81 per common share) during the second quarter, an
increase of $7.4 million ($0.15 per common share) YoY.
H2-19 Strategy: Spend Money to Make Money
“2019 is a year of significant capital expenditures as we build our
infrastructure in Ontario to execute our strategic plan,” explained
CEO Baker. “We have already accomplished several major milestones
in the first half of the year including the new building addition at
Great Blue Heron Casino and the gaming expansion at Elements Casino
Mohawk. For the remainder of 2019, we continue to work towards
completing several developments in Ontario, particularly at Elements
Casino Flamboro and Elements Casino Grand River, which will include
expanded gaming and new food and beverage offerings that we expect to
complete by the end of 2019.”
Baker also spoke of the two-phase opening of Pickering Casino Resort,
the first of which is scheduled to occur in Q1-20. The first phase
will include gaming and dining venues. The timeline for the second
phase has yet to be determined, but it will include “premium
nongaming amenities”, like a hotel, retail stores, entertainment
venue and additional dining options.
In closing, Baker credited the company’s recent and ongoing success
to its “disciplined approach to use of capital opportunities and to
explore opportunities that will improve our business and increase
value to our shareholders.”
Court of
Appeals decides GotSkill’s skill-based games are gambling, therefore
illegal in Ontario.
Games of skill versus games of chance – is there really that much
of a difference? Ontario Superior Court Justice Andras Schreck
thought so last year. Turns out, he was wrong. The Court
of Appeals overturned his decision this week regarding a
collection of popular skill-based gaming cabinets from the company
GotSkill.
The new decision is not being taken lightly – not by the executives
at GotSkill, nor the owners of more than two hundred local bars and
clubs where the games were installed. Despite their outrage, there’s
absolutely nothing that can be done, except for removing the now
illegal games, of course. According tot he appellate court’s
decision, GotSkill has no grounds to appeal this decision, making it
unquestionably final.
GotSkill’s Skill-Based Games are Gambling in Ontario
If you’re one of the countless fans of GotSkill’s gaming cabinets,
present throughout locations all over the province, don’t be
surprised if these games are missing from your favorite bar or
restaurant the next time you visit. Following a legal battle that’s
been ongoing for more
than a year now, the machines have been declared to be in
violation of Ontario’s gaming laws.
According to the Court of Appeals, Justice Schrek made one critical
error in his evaluation of the company’s SkillBet cabinets last year.
He had determined that players of superior skill would be capable of
beating the game, winning more money from the games then they paid to
play them. Based on this assumption, he decided that they did not
fall under the definition of a game of chance, therefore were
not illegal.
The Appellate Court disagreed with this theory based on the fact that
only those of exceptional skill could consistently beat the games.
The average player, on the other hand, would be reliant more on
chance than skill to win, thus losing more than they win. Therefore,
the amusements could only be defined as games of chance.
When the appeal was filed earlier this year, GotSkill was confident
that another ruling would go in their favor. They weren’t the only
ones, either. Many more bars chose to install the skill-based gaming
cabinets, while some retailers who already offered the games upped
their number of installments by 2-3 times. You can imagine their
disappointment now, following an unimagined outcome.
Despite its former confidence, GotSkill did state months ago that if
the appeal did not return a decision in their favor, it would result
in an abundance of job losses for the company. So far, there’s been
no word from corporate as their heads are surely still reeling from
the news.
Furthermore, the courts have not issued a timeline for removal of the
skill-based games from local area bars and clubs. It’s safe to assume
the machines will be made inoperable before the month is out.
AGCO Won’t Tolerate Illegal Gambling in Ontario
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which
filed the appeal back in January, is pleased with this latest turn of
events. They feel that their rules in regards to gambling in Ontario
are very strict, and must not be violated lest the public well-being
be put at risk.
AGCO regulations expressly prohibit gambling in bars and restaurants.
Gambling is confined to commercial casinos and charitable gaming
venues, all of which must obtain authorization from the Ontario
Lottery and Gaming Corp (OLG). Only First Nations casinos may
operate without an OLG license, and even they must abide by certain
restrictions.
Canada iGaming firm The Stars Group is teaming with New York’s Akwesane Mohawk Casino for live and online sports betting; online poker to follow?
The legalization of sports betting in New York has caused quite a
stir, not just in the Empire State, but across the border into
Ontario and Quebec, Canada. New York happens to have a few tribal
casinos near its borders, granting rather convenient access for
Canadian sports fans to enter the country and place all the wagers
their hearts desire.
Here in Canada, it’s not illegal to bet on sports, but it is highly
restrictive. We are forced to make bets with long odds – parlays,
they’re called. Multiple picks, and they must all win, or the bet is
lost. For years, many Canadians have trusted offshore gambling
websites to place the bets they really want. But now – or rather,
very soon – New York will present the same single event betting
opportunities we crave, live and in person.
Oddly enough, it’s one of our own who will operate the first
sportsbook across the St. Lawrence River. The Stars Group
(TSG, formerly Amaya Inc.) of Toronto have inked a deal with the
Akwesane Mohawk Casino Resort to run the property’s upcoming
sports betting business.
Canada iGaming Firm TSG Signs with NY’s Akwesane
Mohawk Casino
TSG’s benchmark contract gives the Canadian firm a foothold in the
budding iGaming business of New York. The group’s contract gives them
operational rights over an online sportsbook for the property, and
will also see them performing support services for the casino’s
retail sportsbook.
TSG’s newly appointed CEO, Robin Chhabra, comments:
“We are excited to announce this agreement with Mohawk, which further strengthens our market access as we work to build our Fox Bet business into one of the leaders in the emerging U.S. online betting and gaming market.”
The terms of the agreements are extensive, giving Stars Group the
right to launch its online poker and online casino offerings as well,
if and when New York takes the next step to legalize those iGaming
activities. TSG is, of course, the owner of PokerStars, the world’s
largest online poker room. And if more casinos sign sportsbook
contracts with major operators like TSG, maybe it will help motivate
New York legislators to move in that direction, based on the success
in neighboring New Jersey, if nothing else.
At this point, it’s been widely speculated that New York will become
the fifth US state to regulate online poker. No doubt Stars Group is
banking on it, hoping to tap into yet another lucrative market on US
soil. For the time being, their focusing on the growth of their US
sports offers via another recent partnership with Fox Sports,
which has the two brands collaborating on the production of Fox
Bet.
PokerStars Events Getting Closer to Home?
It’s worth noting that single-event bets aren’t the only thing off
limits to Canadian players. PokerStars is another area of legal
contention in the Great White North. While the operator claims to
accept Canadian customers, it’s no secret that their doing so teeters
of the border of unlawful internet gambling.
Canada’s iGaming laws are known to be far less restrictive than our
neighbors to the south. The only thing we must abide by is the law
that states no entity with a physical presence in Canada may provide
gambling services without a provincial license to do so.
With Toronto being home to TSG headquarters, and having no license
from any provincial regulator in the country, Canadian players would
be wise to keep their distance from the online poker room. But what
about PokerStars Live? If the New York casino were to open a live
branded poker room so close to the border, it could open the flood
gates for Canadian poker pros to hit up new PokerStars sponsored
events a lot closer to home. It’s all speculation for now, but I have
no doubt the gears are turning in the minds of TSG executives.
OLG “closing the gender gap” in live, online gaming technology.
Women have enjoyed a strong presence
in the work force for more than half a century. Their roles, however,
have yet to catch up to that of men, especially when it comes to
higher positions of power, or more tech savvy roles. It’s a
recognizable problem, and one that’s receiving more attention in the
Canadian business world.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation (OLG) has been taking a closer look at gender equality in
recent years. The province’s gambling regulator mapped a resolution,
putting the plan into effect in 2018. Now, 12 months into the
project, their efforts are proving fruitful.
Women in Live and Online Gaming Technology
In April 2018, OLG began a new
movement they termed the Gender Strategy. Prior to the project, the
corporation’s 2017 employee dockets revealed only 22% of their
technology department was staffed by females. Over the next year, a
strong focus was put on ensuring that women had equal employment
opportunities within the field.
Slowly but surely, the the gender
gap began visibly shrinking, and by April 2019, 29% of the technology
department was staffed by female employees. An increase of 7% may not
seem like a huge difference, but in the grand the scheme of things,
it puts OLG’s tech staff 5% ahead of the national average in
employing women.
Even more impressive is OLG’s
managerial staff numbers. On the senior leadership level, the number
of women in higher positions rose 14%. Having made such an impressive
leap in gender equality, OLG was the obvious choice as presenting
sponsor of the 2019 #movethedial
stories event, held last month in Toronto.
Inspirational Commentary of OLG’s Executive Women
Two of OLG’s leading ladies, Wai
Yu and Jessica Ylanko, spoke at the event. Both were
enthusiastic about sharing
their valuable experiences with the corporation over the
years.
Ms. Yu was promoted to Senior Vice
President, and Chief Digital, Marketing and Customer Experience at
OLG, in August of last year. It might be the Gender Strategy program
that helped get her recognized, but it was her long-term expertise
that earned her the position. She spent 6 years as Board Director of
the Information Technology Association of Canada (2010-2016), and
another as Chairman of that Board (2017), before moving into her
current role at OLG.
“As an industry facing shifting demographics and advances in technology, OLG is focused on transforming how it engages with customers… Transformation is hard, especially in tech, but we shouldn’t be afraid of the challenge. I’m excited to help OLG become the customer centric, digital enterprise it wants to be in the future.”
Ms Ylanko, a self-described
‘strategic thinker in the digital space’, has spent more than
two year’s as OLG’s Digital Marketing Manager. After receiving a B.A.
In Communications and Media (2008-12) and a Post Graduate Degree in
Advertising (2012-13), she began working for OLG as an Account
Coordinator in 2014, Account Manager in 2015, and transitioned to
Account and Project Manager in 2016, leading up to her current
position.
“Its been fantastic working at an organization where it’s not unusual for me to work on a project with an all-female team. The trust and support we get from our leaders have allowed us to innovate in ways that our customers are really responding to.”
Experts warn legal sports betting to feed match fixing crisis.
Competitive sports are a fascinating thing. Athletic contests, from feats of strength, to races, to team exhibitions, have existed as long as mankind has walked the earth. And for all that time, we’ve suffered the compulsion to pick a favorite – a likely winner – one we’re so confident in that some of us are willing to stakes something we hold dear upon it.
Thus is the nature of the timeless pastime we call sports betting.
Sure, some of us are pure fans of the game, watching and cheering on
our favorites for no other reason than our passion for the sport. But
there’s no denying, a little action certainly raises the bar of
exhilaration for viewers.
It’s not just the chance to win money that excites us, but the
unpredictability of it all. We may truly believe we’ve picked a
winner, but deep down, we know anything can happen, and it’s that
uncertainty that drives the adrenaline ever faster through our veins
as the game clock winds down.
Take away the unpredictability, and you take away everything that
gives a sport meaning. No one will watch anymore. None will wager.
The players will lose their drive. Teams will disband. Without
unpredictability, sports will cease to exist.
As irrational as this sounds, it is not so preposterous when you look
at the bigger picture; at what’s taking place behind the scenes all
over the world. And now that the legalization of sports betting is
spreading rapidly through the veins of North America, experts are
becoming more concerned than ever.
Legal Sports Betting to Feed Match Fixing in
Sports
For decades, the most persuasive argument against the legalization of sports betting has been the fear of rampant match fixing. It’s a foul enterprise that’s been present for ages. The prohibition on sports gambling wasn’t enough to prevent it, and now experts say the lifting of such bans could become the catalyst for the eventual demise of sports integrity.
Who are these so-called experts? They are Richard McLaren and
David Howman, both speakers at the Symposium on Match
Manipulation and Gambling in Sport, held in Toronto earlier this
week.
Richard McLaren, a Canadian law professor and CEO of McLaren
Global Sport Solutions, authored a state-sponsored report on the
Russian match fixing crisis in 2016. David Howman, a New Zealand
barrister, is the former director of the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA, 2003-16), and current chair of the Athletic Integrity Unit.
Together, the two men described a sobering environment in which match
manipulation is becoming more prominent than doping. These two
factors combined are now the most alarming issues threatening the
integrity of sports all over the world.
Multiple cases of match fixing have been identified in tennis for the
last few years – especially at the lower amateur levels, where
athletes hardly make enough money to cover their cost participation –
but never so many incidents as were unearthed in 2018. More recently,
a pair of snooker players were banned for match fixing and failing to
report corruption. Just two months ago, a soccer referee received a
lifetime ban for accepting bribes to manipulate matches.
Organized Crime Syndicates to Blame
Howman pins the problem on organized crime syndicates. “I have done
a lot of work in the general sport integrity area and I can quote you
what I am told by people who work in that more general business,
including enforcement agents,” he said. “They all say the biggest
threat to sport integrity is organised crime.”
Andy Cunningham, Director of Integrity for Sportradar, a
company that monitors and analyzes patterns in sports betting,
reporting its intelligence to more than one hundred governing sports
authorities, accentuated Howman’s message.
“We saw it coming at WADA and I raised it during my term there as a
significant issue that needed to be countered by world sport, because
the bad guys involved in pushing dope and steroids are the same bad
guys involved in match manipulation,” said Cunningham.
According to Interpol, an estimated $500 billion per year is wagered
on sports – a hard figure to come by when it includes both legal
and illegal wagering activity. Nonetheless, it presents a tasty
smorgasbord for match fixers, who making untold amounts of money
manipulating the outcomes of everything from the highest rungs of
World Cup matches to the lowly Canadian Soccer League (CSL).
Sports wagering lobbyist to give Canada’s politicians an earful.
The push to legalize sports betting in Canada rages on this week as the region’s premier sports news authority, theScore, is taking matters into their own hands. The Toronto-based company has hired a professional government relations expert to lobby on behalf of its company and countless sports fans across the nation.
Making the rounds at federal and provincial government hearings is
one way to get your message out. Hiring a professional lobbyist who’s
spent years navigating that complex environment is the better way.
Such experts know how to find a champion for the cause, capable of
finding ways to root the issues in their political priorities.
theScore Hires Professional Sports Wagering
Lobbyist
Executive members of sports media firm didn’t have to go far to find
the best man for the job. Also nestled in the heart of Toronto is
Pathway Group, headed by co-founder and President Peter
Curtis. He has decades of experience working with and within all
levels of government, and is beyond qualified for the role.
Mr. Curtis’s experience in politics speaks for itself, from his
teenage years when he walked into a campaign office in Dundas for the
first time, to his current position of Executive Vice President of
the Ontario Liberal Party.
Last week, Mr. Curtis made his latest mission quite clear. On behalf
of theScore, the government relations aficionado filed
a registration with the federal Office of the Commissioner
of Lobbying. The brief filing declares his intention of “lobbying
(to) legalize sports betting”, and pin-points his political targets
as Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s office.
Capitalizing on NA’s Love for Pro Sports Betting
theScore has spent the last year attempting to capitalize on North
America’s desire to bet on sports in a legal capacity. Months from
now, the company plans to become the first media brand to launch its
own online sportsbook, based out of New Jersey, USA. No doubt the
firm would like to be able to follow that same path in its home base
of Canada.
Originally founded in 1994 as Scorescope, the company started
out as an alphanumeric scrolling ticker that displayed sports scores
during regularly scheduled television shows, even during commercials.
It was an enormously successful brand that evolved into the national,
24-hour Headline Sports channel in 1997, and theScore
Television Network in 2000. Then in 2012, Rogers bought
out the parent company, rebranding it Sportsnet 360.
That same year, John S. Levy founded theScore Inc.,
essentially relaunching the brand under its own representation. It’s
since become a primary source of sports media in Canada, and a prime
candidate for capitalizing on what is sure to become an extremely
lucrative market, if and when Canada legalizes sports wagering.
Last month, Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli wrote a now-famous
letter to his federal counterpart, Bill Morneau. Within, he called
“single event sports wagering…one of the fastest growing
categories of gambling entertainment.” adding a glaring statistic
that “90 per cent of the sports dollars wagered in Nevada
sportsbooks are on single events.”
This gave Ontario yet another nudge, leading to its decision to
“establish a competitive market for online gambling” within the
2019 budget proposal; one that includes hopes for legal single-event
betting. The response from theScore came swift and adamant.
“theScore has always embraced the fact that sports betting is part
of the overall fan experience,” said founder and CEO John Levy. “It
is finally time for jurisdictions across Canada to adopt common sense
sports betting regulation.”
