Here’s one sure bet as Canada opens the door to wagering on single-game sporting events: a percentage of the billions Canadians currently gamble in offshore and black-market jurisdictions will be repatriated to diversify revenue streams for the local sports industry, but the windfall will bring with it the downside risks of increased problem gambling across the board.
Canada’s professional sports industry, with a value estimated at around a 10th of North America’s overall US$80 billion total, has been hit harder than a lot of sectors from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and complications. Little wonder then that it is loudly applauding the legalization of single-game sports betting and its potential to redirect millions of gambling dollars into sports revenue pools and provide a new avenue of engagement with fans who have been largely estranged in the no-live-attendance pandemic era. Lucrative new marketing and sponsorship opportunities promise to spread the wealth to businesses far beyond arenas and stadiums as single-game wagering raises fan interest in more sporting events, leagues, players and competitions. But the dark side here is an inevitable juiced-up inducement for more people to get into the gambling game. This bodes ill for the residents in B.C. and across the country who suffer from gambling addictions, many of whom are sports fans and many of whom have families who suffer the financial consequences of that addiction. In short, there are significant social risks here that need to be consistently monitored and policed nationally and provincially. But what role will the major stakeholders in this potential financial windfall play in addressing the collateral damage of more and easier ways to gamble? That needs to be clarified now, because the gambling revenue floodgates are set to open across the country, but some people are going to sink rather than swim in the deluge. That is the safest bet anyone can make in the new wide-open sports gambling era.
