Ontario Sports Betting: What Happened to Horse Racing?

Ontario's new internet gambling market allows private-sector operators of online sportsbooks and casinos to take bets in the province. The market does not allow betting on horse racing at this time. Provincial players were spending nearly $1 billion a year on online gambling.

Ontarians can still legally bet on horse racing. The issue of horse-race betting in Canada is overseen by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency. It regulates the wagering within a pool-based model. Out of the betting pools come winning payouts, operator fees, and taxes. CPMA can issue betting permits and licenses to Canadian racetracks and OTBs associated with them. A race association may submit an application for a permit to the Executive Director of CPma for approval. They may also request approval to bet at other racers and at theatres.

Woodbine Entertainment has the only pari-mutuel betting license in Ontario. The company wants to integrate its network into the province's new online sportsbooks. Some of the bookmakers have horse-racing backgrounds. Sports betting is going to cannibalize the horse racing industry, which supports 25,000 jobs in the Ontario province. The province removed horse races from Bill C-218. Woodbines hopes the change in attitude among regulators will come within the next month or two. They don't need any changes to federal law. It would be more of a marketing and hosting arrangement.