According to the latest data provided by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, single-event sports wagering is off to a great start in British Columbia. On November 1, 2021, the Crown agency reported the first results of the new betting offering available on its platform PlayNow.com. For only two months gamblers from the province managed to place CA$25 million on single sports betting.
Wagering on single sporting events became legal at the end of this August after the Canadian federal government enacted Bill C-218 as law. Now, provinces have their own way of presenting the offering to their respective markets. The BCLC did not hesitate to implement the new gambling vertical right away and now the corporation is enjoying impressive betting volume on singles.
Increasing Volume
The interim President and CEO of the BCLC, Lynda Cavanaugh said that the placed volume of single-game bets is a significant achievement for the Crown corporation. In her opinion, the Crown’s online platform is in a great spot and it offers extremely entertaining and engaging sports wagering but in a safe environment. The website is the only gambling one to use its revenue to support the local economy of B.C.
Since the official launch of single-game betting on PlayNow.com, the NFL has been the most preferred choice for wagering. The betting volume on NFL wagers has increased by 97% for the first seven weeks of the football season, in comparison to the same period last year, when only parlay wagers were available to gamblers.
The event with the most betting volume, since the introduction of single-game betting, was the week 4 clash between Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriot. The match-up accumulated 69% of the total bets and 80% of the total money wagered on the new gambling offering. Additionally, bets on NHL have increased by 71% after the first 19 days of the season in comparison to the same time window last year.
However, with the increase of total sports wagering activity, the Crown corporation is still cautious about the participants’ health. Also, the BCLC reminds that a player experiences any kind of gambling concerns they should feel free to contact the GameSense Advisors, who are available via telephone and chat. Experts will then provide support or refer to suitable treatment.
New Study
In October, the Thompson Rivers University conducted research on the impact the BCLC has had on the region of Kamloops. And according to the study, the Crown has managed to reinvest over CA$2.2 billion to the local economy and development to the region, thanks to its gaming activities for the 35 years of operations. Also, the crown provides many full-time positions, and for 2019/20 it secured as many as 667 positions for Kamloops.
Fiscal Stats Revealed
At the end of August, the Crown organization released its Annual Service Report, which included the 2020-2021 financial performance. During the period, the company has managed to accumulate a record-breaking revenue from its lottery and iGaming offerings, meaning that the institution is well on the track to recovery from the unprecedented situation and its effects.
Source: “BCLC Eclipses $25-Million Mark in Single-Event Sports Bets on PlayNow.com”, BCLC, November 1, 2021
