THE HUDDLE: CGA
Single-track approach Paul Burns, president & CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, speaks exclusively to Tim Poole about the legalization of single-event sports wagering in Canada and online gaming in Ontario. By way of intro, can you tell us about the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) and what you personally do in your role? The CGA is the national trade association for the gaming industry in Canada. We represent operators and suppliers both in land-based and online gaming, and our primary role is around education and advocacy. Because of the large government involvement in gaming in Canada, we often do advocacy work to government, like we’re doing right now on sports betting. And we work cooperatively with regulators and other entities across the industry, as well as stakeholders, to really further enhance the opportunities for the gaming industry. It must be a very busy time for you at the moment. It has been. Right now, most of the casinos in Canada are closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. So obviously 2020 was a horrendous year for the industry and it’s carrying on into the early part of 2021. But there are some really good bright spots on the horizon, like finally getting Canada sports betting modernized to permit single-event wagering. Parlay wagering has been legal for years but not single-event wagering, and Ontario is moving to create a regulatory framework to license online gaming. As everyone probably knows, Canada has a quite robust gray market. Ontario is the first jurisdiction to try and tackle that, and try and bring some regulatory framework to online gaming. So there’s some really great opportunities heading in 2021, and that’s what we’re focusing on right now. 20 GAMING GAMINGAMERICA AMERICA
The two fundamental developments you mention are certainly something the industry has noticed. The first I wanted to ask you about was sports wagering. Could you talk us through how it currently works in Canada? I simply can’t imagine it not being legal to place a bet on one event without having to bet on another. The legal wagering options in Canada are through the sports lottery products offered by the provincial lottery providers. There are tools and prop bets in most jurisdictions, so you have to create a parlay, a minimum of three in most cases, some places it’s two, to place a bet. Even a couple of years ago prop bets weren’t found so you’d probably have to parlay with an NHL game or two to place a bet on the Super Bowl. That’s really what it’s been and that’s why Canadians really gravitated to the online, offshore market. There’s quite a robust illegal bookmaking business in Canada primarily operated by organized crime. And so Canadians bet almost CA$14bn (US$11bn) in the illegal offshore channels, versus about CA$500m through the sports lottery products. That alone tells you where the preferences are for where consumers have chosen to go and get their products. What is the exact timeline for the legalization of single-event sports wagering? It’s been a frustrating odyssey, to say the least. It’s been about 10 years for me personally working on this. We’ve previously had a bill passed from the House of Commons but didn’t pass our Senate, the second chamber. So this time we actually have two bills right now in the House of Commons. The Government, sensing and
