The Canadian Senate has passed Bill C-218 approving single event sports betting in the country. The billreceived57 votes for, 20 against and five abstained votes.
The bill will become law in the coming days, according to Senator David Wells. Industry experts expect sports betting to be operating in the country by the fall.
Canada has a population of around 38 million people, similar to the state of California, representing a large untapped market for online sports betting companies.
Here are three companies that could benefit from the passing of Bill C-218.
Score Media:Canadian media and sports betting company Score Media and Gaming could be one of the biggest winners with the new legislation. The company recently completed a public listing in the U.S. after previously trading OTC. Score Mediagetsaround 20% of its traffic from Canada and is a well-known brand in the country. This could help it easily capture interest from potential sports bettors through its app that is already trusted for sports news in the country.
The company has a deal in place with Penn National Gaming giving it access to up to 11 U.S. states over the next 20 years. As part of the deal, Penn National owns 4.9% of the company. Given its strong media presence in Canada, Score Media could quickly become an acquisition target of larger online sports betting companies.
DraftKings:Sports betting company DraftKings Inc is seen as a winner from Canada adding sports betting. Several analystshighlightedthe Canadian market not being priced into prior estimates with launches coming in the country by 2022. Rosenblatt analyst Bernie McTernan said Canada could add $100 million in revenue for DraftKings by fiscal 2023.
DraftKingsaddedto its daily fantasy partnership with the National Football League to include Canada. This could give a nice solid user base to DraftKings of potential sports betting customers in the country.
MGM Resorts International:Signing Wayne Gretzky as a brand ambassador for the BetMGM brand could have been the perfect foreshadowing to Canada legalizing sports betting. BetMGM, a joint venture from MGM Resorts International and Entain,announcedthe addition of Gretzky recently in a multi-year brand ambassador deal to help with marketing efforts of the BetMGM brand in North America.
“We’re proud to welcome him to the BetMGM team. As we look toward potential expansion into Canada and elsewhere throughout the United States, Wayne will bring a unique ability to tell our brand story,” BetMGM Chief Revenue Officer Matt Prevost said.