Offshore Sportsbook Bodog Exits Manitoba After Uncontested Court Order

Bodog is bowing out of Manitoba.


The ". eu" domain for the overseas sports betting and casino betting website now lists the province as one of three in Canada from which it does not accept gamers.


The other two provinces are Quebec and Nova Scotia, the latter of which was just limited by Bodog last September.


Bodog's current addition of Manitoba to its "limited regions" follows a court in the province recently ordering the business behind the Antigua and Barbuda-based online gambling website to stop operating in a manner that is accessible to residents, and to stop marketing to them as well.


Bodog says it is no longer accepting players from Manitoba, which follows a court in the province essentially informing the overseas sportsbook to knock it off. pic.twitter.com/PV2FvhyD49


The injunction versus Bodog in Manitoba was effectively sought by the province's lotto and video gaming corporation, on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC). The advocacy group's members are government-owned lottos from provinces throughout Canada, minus Alberta and Ontario.


Getting an injunction versus Bodog, which has actually long been available and prominent to Canadian bettors, and the operator stating it will limit access in reaction to the court order, is a win for those lottery games.


It's likewise similar to what has actually taken place in the U.S., where many states have just recently managed to oust overseas operator Bovada from their yards.


Lotto Six-Forty-Enough


Canada's so-called "grey market" for online betting (wherein business might be managed abroad or outside a province, however not by the province itself) has actually long taken on government-owned entities like Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp.'s PlayNow website. That site is the only authorized one in the province.


However, the CLC and its members have actually been working to raise awareness of and go after unregulated operators, including by stepping in with concerns in a court reference in Ontario concerning shared iGaming liquidity.


It was throughout the hearing for that recommendation that the coalition's attorneys were asked if an overseas operator had actually ever been brought to justice in Canada. This was obviously not the case up until the Bodog proceeding in Manitoba.


Running out of shades of 'grey'


The grey market is now getting squeezed like never ever before in Canada.


While Alberta is moving towards something similar, Ontario is the only province in Canada that authorizes private-sector operators of online sportsbooks and casinos to take bets from its residents.


A few of those operators were previously "grey" entities before provided the possibility to shift into Ontario's brand-new, regulated iGaming market. That has actually allowed Ontario to move more than 80% of all online gaming in the province onto locally regulated apps and websites.


Bodog, however, stays unregulated by Canada's most populated province. This just recently led to the operator being singled out by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario as a bookmaker that media companies must stop promoting.


Taken to (obedience) school


Meanwhile, the non-Alberta and games are pursuing unregulated operators in their own way, such as with the Manitoba court injunction. In Manitoba, the lotto coalition had alleged Bodog was operating unlawfully in the province.


The injunction that was consequently issued by Court of King's Bench Judge Jeffrey Harris on May 26 also requires Bodog to put in place "geo-blocking technology" on its.eu site (the one where users can wager real cash) to stop Manitobans from accessing its services and products.


No orders were provided particularly for Bodog's ". net" website (and the judge's reasons have actually not yet been released), which states it is for "totally free play" and "amusement purposes only."


However, both the operator's. eu and.net sites were called by the judge in the order as having no right to offer online Manitoba sports wagering or gambling establishment video games in the province. Bodog did not show approximately safeguard itself in the Manitoba court.