New single-game betting show growth trajectory

There have been several changes to the Canadian gambling market during the past two years. First, the pandemic expanded the online casino market which has lowered the threshold for gambling, as the accessibility and comfort of online casinos was a tempting means of escaping lockdown boredom. The surge in usage resulted in online casinos threatening the revenues of land-based casinos. 

Second, Canadians saw the beginning of a new gambling era. In 2021, Bill C-281 was passed in parliament which enabled single-game betting. This meant that bettors could now bet on events and outcomes in a single sports game, rather than engage in parlay betting. Parlay betting, which was the only legal form of sports betting in Canada, meant that bettors had to wager in several games in one bet. To win money, you had to get all of them right, making it more difficult to be profitable.

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Single-game betting for the sake of the national economy

When the single-game betting bill was introduced, the most memorable arguments were made in the name of the national economy. Kevin Waugh, the author of the bill, argued that “[prime minister] Justin Trudeau is allowing billions of dollars a year to fall into the hands of big multinational companies and criminals.”

According to the federal government, Canadians were spending over CA$10 billion on wagering illegally every year, as well as CA$4 billion through offshore wagering. As such, the bill was meant to bring the revenues back into the Canadian economy rather than potential criminal-based gambling institutions. By doing so, the Canadian government would also be able to better regulate and distribute the revenues from the gambling market to provide safer gambling institutions.

New data show growth trajectories 

The gamble of the bill seems to be paying off now as well. According to new data from BtoBet, the growth trajectory for the short term market is set to land between CA$1.5 billion and CA$2.4 billion the second year post-legalization, compared to CA$241.7 million before the signing of the bill. 

Single game betting a driver for online gambling 

The increased Gross Gaming Revenue from single-game betting is expected to help land-based revenues more than double in size. However, it is also driving more gamblers and bettors onto online gambling platforms. Some data expect the new legislation to push online casino revenues past that of land-based revenues, which will be yet another change from the pre-legislation times.

Furthermore, the push of the Canadian gambling market to more online based administrations may open the market up to “global betting powerhouses”, according to the BtoBet report. This would serve both the national economy as well as help drive the Canadian online casino market forward in growth and development.