This Week in Sports Betting Legislation – February 18th, 2022

Chris Altman Sports Betting Expert

5 minute read

OLG AND NFL PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES TO MATURE

The NFL is eyeing partnerships with legal sports betting providers across North America, and a new agreement between the league and Ontario’s Lottery and Gaming Corporation is becoming a reality.

In a five-year deal with the league, OLG and their proprietary sports betting platform PROLINE+ will have exclusive sports betting options available for bettors in the province. Additionally, cross-promotion will be available at the PROLINE retail outlets for betting across Ontario.

Dave Pridmore, Chief Digital and Strategy Officer for OLG, had this to say about the deal:

“This exciting collaboration with a world-class organization like the NFL creates new sports entertainment experiences that give sports fans all across the province an incredible opportunity to get closer to the sport they love through exclusive, one-of-a-kind gameplay.”

When Ontario’s commercial market opens for competitive providers like DraftKings and FanDuel, the existing partnership between OLG and the NFL will help not only to promote safe and legal betting in Canada, but also solidify the OLG’s position as a top provider of bets in the province.

NOVA SCOTIA LAUNCHES SINGLE-EVENT WAGERS FOR SUPER BOWL

The Big Game has come and gone, and states and provinces with legal sports betting programs did their best to reap in the rewards from the championship.

Now that Canada has legalized single-event wagering, provinces all across the country are opening up the market to your basic offering of bets. As a result of the passage of C-218, single-event wagering is decriminalized in the Canadian penal code, and Nova Scotia got in on the action just in time for game day.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation is the body in charge of offering sports bets to the following provinces in addition to Nova Scotia:

• Prince Edward Island
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• New Brunswick

It’s likely that the Atlantic Lottery Corporation will expand their offering into a more robust online betting product soon, but for now, the PROLINE service offers online parlay betting. Single-event wagering will soon be added to the roster as the service matures in Atlantic Canada to more closely resemble the platform in Ontario, which has already started offering single-event bets.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ENTER PARTNERSHIP WITH FUBOTV’S BETTING PLATFORM

fuboTV has expanded into the betting space with fubo Sportsbook, and now they’ve solidified their name in that market in a partnership with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, home of the Cavs, will feature a retail (read: in-person, also called “brick-and-mortar”) sportsbook in addition to cross-promotions and on-court branding. This deal mirrors many partnerships throughout the country, even in states like Ohio where sports betting is not yet explicitly legal.

Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that– in fact, sports betting was made legal in Ohio in 2021 with the signing of HB 29 by Governor Mike DeWine. However, the law is written to allow for a January 2023 start date, and operators will have to wait until then to enter the market in earnest.

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS MISS OUT ON SUPER BOWL BETTING RETURNS

California could potentially be one of the largest legal sports betting markets in the US, but lawmakers there have not moved forward with a proposal to legalize the practice– yet.

One petition has already gained enough signatures to get a vote for legal sports betting on the November 2022 ballot. BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel all backed the petition to add said vote to the 2022 ballot, but local entities are pushing back: namely, federally-recognized Native American tribes in the state.

The tribes that have unified to create the Tribal and Safe Gaming Committee in California include:

• Wilton Rancheria
• The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
• The Rincon Band of Luisueño Indians

Said tribes have committed $100 million to pushing back the efforts of seven big-name operators in the sports betting industry, including the above. There are a few initiatives attempting to legalize sports betting in some capacity in the Golden State, and the tension between the “pros” and the “antis” will only become more prevalent as we get closer to voting season.

Written by Chris Altman, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author’s expertise here.

The featured image for this post was sourced on Wikimedia Commons and can be found here.

Chris Altman

Chris Altman is a sports betting writer and content expert with almost a decade of experience. He's covered everything, but his current focus is on reviewing sportsbooks and online casinos and keeping tabs on sports betting legislation. Chris has been with VegasInsider since 2019 and has freelanced in the sports betting content industry for years. More from Chris Altman