Canadian Football and the Future of Sports Betting in Canada

Canadian football fans across the country have moved one step closer to having their sports betting dreams realised due to the Canadian parliament progressing the much-anticipated bill for ‘The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act’. Although previously somewhat reticent when it came to endorsing proposals for a fully regulated sports betting industry, Trudeau appears to have changed his tune in recent months as the Canadian Federal Government has backed the proposed act.

The Canadian Football League would be a beneficiary. Unable to finish out the season in 2020 following the cancellation of games in August, the CFL is eyeing up a comeback schedule in 2021. While this certainly isn’t the first time the CFL has faced significant financial difficulty, it is nevertheless an extremely precarious time for the league. An update to the existing sports betting framework could provide a vital lifeline.

If passed, the bill would legalise single-event sports betting across Canada and by doing so could create an industry potentially worth billions each year. With that said, portals such as playcasinos.ca are keeping track of these developments.

In terms of the potential impact this updated legislative framework would have, it is hoped allowing for legal football betting in a safe, controlled, and regulated manner would stimulate the sector after what has been a financially devastative year for many teams across the country. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds, if not thousands, of professional sporting events across Canada and the world were cancelled due to limits on in-person gatherings.

Although there is still quite a long way to go before the sports betting bill eventually becomes federal legislation, industry analysts remain cautiously optimistic. Indeed, speaking on the movement of the bill through the House of Commons in recent weeks, the Canadian Gaming Association remarked that it was pleased the Government had undertaken to address the urgent need to amend the Criminal Code and to put in place a comprehensive legislative framework for the regulation of sports betting in Canada.

As a result of this, and a general decline in advertising revenue, both professional sports teams and sports leagues are eyeing up various ways of making up for this shortfall. It is hoped that the easing of restrictions on sports betting would not only help to increase interest in professional sports after a long lay-off but would also open up potentially lucrative sponsorship opportunities for many of the struggling sports teams out there.

As further proof of the widespread support for this initiative, the introduction of the proposed sports betting bill has been welcomed by several professional sports leagues, including the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League, and the Canadian Football league.

It seems likely, then, that Canada will soon be following in the footsteps of its neighbour, the United States, which has significantly reformed and liberalised sports betting laws in recent years. A significant United States Supreme Court decision in May 2018 ended a longstanding restriction on sports betting in the United States. This decision paved the way for the establishment of a fully-fledged sports betting industry in the country. Since it came into effect, numerous states across the US have moved to legalise sports betting.

With that in mind, industry analysts are eyeing up the progression of this bill through the House of Commons with much anticipation. Whether it will pass or not, however, remains to be seen.