Canadians have had the luxury of being able to gamble online for some time. While operators can’t base themselves in the country, there’s no stopping players from placing their bets on sites outside the jurisdiction.
It’s uncomplicated, and whether in Toronto, Montreal or Quebec City, playing poker, blackjack, slots or the best bingo games for desktop or mobile can be played by anyone above the legal age.
However, the industry will likely be transformed over the coming years, not due to law changes in Canada, but south of the border.
A number of states are legalizing online gambling, including the likes of New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania, and in turn that’s drawing more and more attention to North America for bingo sites, sportsbooks and casinos.
That will have a knock-on effect on the Canadian market, with big brands likely to produce North American offers and build their marketing campaigns on the continent as a whole.
In turn, more players will be attracted to playing, and the industry will be worth considerably more. Which will turn the heads of the Canadian government.
As it stands, online gambling is worth over $45billion globally. By 2024 that will be almost $95billion. What that could do is encourage Canadian officials to take a slice of that pie.
Many countries globally earn a significant amount of tax from gambling firms. In just a year, the state of New Jersey had earned $23.8million in taxes on sports betting alone. Nevada and countries across Europe are also significantly benefitting.
By allowing gambling firms to operate inside of Canada, the country would also likely see the same benefits, and revolutionise the betting scene in the country further.
Of course, it isn’t as simple as that. Few states in the USA have managed to pass bills to legalize online gambling, and while there’s a huge boom in the industry as it stands in North America, it really isn’t the half of it.
More states will follow, but it takes time and debate to pass such bills, and Canada will be the same.
It will be interesting to see how long that takes. The market is only going to increase at a rate of knots in the coming years. Players in Canada are reaping the rewards and the boom suggests there’s plenty more on its way, whether that be in bingo, poker, slots or even sports betting.
