Super Bowl betting still prohibited in Windsor

By Christian Bouchard

 

Windsorites are among many Canadian citizens to lose out on millions of dollars during Super Bowl 50 as a result of the Senate stalling Bill C-290.

The bill, which would allow gamblers across Ontario to bet on single-game sporting events was introduced into the House of Commons on Sept. 28, 2011 by Joe Comartin, retired NDP M.P. for Windsor-Tecumseh.

“We would get a ton of business from Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois and not to mention our local action,” said Joe Carnevale, an employee at Caesars Windsor and advocate for single game sports betting. “We need it in our community, not just to create jobs, but to shore up the jobs we have now.”

As it stands, gamblers must wager a minimum of two games and correctly predict the outcome of each in order to win. This is known as a parlay bet and is more difficult to win as the odds of winning decrease with the increase of games that are bet on.

Bill C-290 was reintroduced by local M.P. Brian Masse after being held up at the Senate after it ended up one stage short of Royal Assent by June 2013. According to Masse, the bill passed through the Senate but members of parliament did not show up on the following Friday to make the bill official.

The bill came with slight changes which would eliminate the Criminal Code section that prohibits betting on a single race, fight, sporting event or athletic contest.

“There would be an elimination of some of the black market gaming that’s taking place right now,” said Masse. “Any wagering would be done in a public accountable way and then if the wager were lost, the money would go to the province for education, health care, gaming addiction and all those different streams of public infrastructure that are necessary.”

The Canadian Gaming Association estimates $150 million was wagered illegally in Canada during last year’s Super Bowl. This is compared to the $3 million through legal sports lotteries such as Pro.Line.

Carnevale, who runs his own Facebook page promoting the legalization of single-game sports betting, believes Caesars Windsor would be able to eliminate a vast majority of illegal wagers with Bill C-290 passing through the Senate.

“You can’t even monitor the age of a person online,” said Carnevale. “A kid could go grab his father’s credit card and go online. But when you walk into the casino, they check your ID, you have to be 19 and you get flagged with any suspicious behavior. There’s no place more secure than a casino to gamble.”

According to a report by the Canadian Gaming Association, Caesars Windsor would also benefit as an estimated 100 full-time jobs would be implemented if the bill were passed.

Employees of Caesars Windsor are currently under contract which does not allow them to speak of single-game wagering in any way, shape or form.

Masse said the legalization of single event sports betting would benefit Windsor because it would attract many Americans.

“We often have calls from Chicago to Ohio about whether or not the bill has passed,” said Masse. “People want to come down and visit Windsor.”

Carnevale said Windsor and the casino are losing out on more than just the Super Bowl. The CGA estimated $26 million in single-event sports betting has been wagered illegally while the Senate has been debating the bill. Carnevale said action should be taken soon to legalize the bill in order to capitalize on the $10 billion a year industry.

“It’s not just the Super Bowl,” said Carnevale. “It’s the NCAA March Madness, it’s all the college football games and more. People would stay for days on end at our casino. If they came from out of town, they would stay long enough to collect their winnings at least. Our downtown restaurants and hotels would benefit tremendously as well.”

According to the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board, $132 million was wagered on this year’s Super Bowl, a slight rise from the previous record-breaking $119.4 million.

“I think one of the biggest reasons for the stall in the bill is the reputation that the government says more people will become addicted,” said Carnevale. “People who want to gamble will gamble. They always find ways.”