The NHL is on board with a Canadian bill to legalize bookmaking, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The league already has bookie deals in Australia and the US but bookmaking in Canada has been against the law since 1892..“We are not turning our venues into casinos,” Keith Wachtel, chief business officer with the NHL, testified at the Commons justice committee Tuesday..“We’re simply adapting to the evolving legal landscape. Second, the marketplace is changing dramatically.”.Since 2018, the league has partnered with the U.K. bookmaker William Hill Plc, MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas and FanDuel Group of New York, and bought shares in the Australian bookmaker PointsBet Holdings Ltd..Bill C-218 would end the federal law that prohibits “bookmaking, pool selling or the making or recording of bets” on any “single sport event or athletic contest.”.All parties have expressed support for the private Conservative bill, though Liberal MP James Maloney (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ont.) said consequences were unclear..Maloney questioned whether NHL clubs in Canada would “allow betting in the rink,” and whether legal bookmakers would take bets on specific outcomes in any single game..“If I’m at a hockey game, will I be able to place a bet after the second period on who is going to score the winning goal?” asked Maloney..“It depends on what the regulation is,” replied Wachtel..“If mobile sports betting is part of it, that means people can bet anywhere at any time.”.“We’re going to maximize revenue here and I know teams in the NHL are already jumping on this,” said Maloney..“I understand the revenue desire, but there’s a balance to be had here between revenue and protecting people.”.“I’m concerned about taking my niece or nephew to a Toronto Maple Leaf game, and they’re going to be able to walk down and instead of buying pizza they’re going to be trying to talk me into getting them to place a bet on the game.”.The CFL endorsed the bill but said it will prohibit all players, coaches and officials from wagering..But David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said temptation involving low-paid athletes was a worry..“We very much think this notion of amateur athletes cannot be lost in this conversation,” said Shoemaker..“The vulnerabilities and the risk to them may in fact outweigh those to professional athletes, where the incentive to manipulate can be much, much greater given that they do not earn a great income from their sport.”.Canada’s top amateur athletes earn an average $25,600 a year, according to the Department of Canadian Heritage that funds amateur sport. The typical athlete caries an average $8,000 in debt..“The incentive to throw something in the Olympic games at the Olympic games themselves may not be that high,” said Shoemaker..“But it’s in those national sporting competitions, things that are occurring back in Canada where there’s still a whole lot of gambling going on, that we have real concern.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
