An offshore sportsbook has officially been told to knock it off by the Canadian legal system.
A judge for the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba granted an injunction on Monday against Bodog, an online gambling operator based in Antigua and Barbuda.
The registry says the injunction was granted and signed in court. Reasons are to follow at a later date.
Monday's injunction was successfully sought by the government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. (MBLL), which alleged Bodog was operating illegally in the province. MBLL also claimed that Bodog was diverting business away from its online gambling platform, PlayNow.
PlayNow is the only authorized iGaming site in Manitoba, and its proprietor, MBLL, wants Bodog to stop advertising and operating within the province. On Monday, that is what the court told Bodog to do.
"This court orders and declares that the Respondents have no lawful authority to offer online gambling products and services, whether through bodog.eu, bodog.net or any other related successor or replacement websites, or to advertise such online products and services to persons located in Manitoba, as such activities are contrary to sections 201, 202, and 206 of the Criminal Code," Monday's order said.
Key Insights
- Government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. has obtained a court injunction against Antigua and Barbuda-based Bodog.
- The Crown corporation is trying to stop Bodog from advertising and operating in the Canadian province, alleging the offshore sportsbook and casino gambling site is breaking the law and diverting business away from MBLL’s PlayNow platform.
- The injunction is a potentially precedent-setting development for Canada, which has a big "grey market" for online gambling.
The injunction obtained on Monday was filed on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, an advocacy group that includes several government-owned gaming corporations, including MBLL.
Those lotteries have been pushing back against offshore iGaming operators in Canada. A court injunction against Bodog could now set an important precedent.
That is because, with the exception of Ontario, the bulk of online gambling in Canada happens in the so-called "grey market."
The term reflects online gambling happening on sites that may be regulated abroad or outside a certain province, but not by the province where the bets are actually being placed. Those "grey" sites compete for business with provincially regulated sites like PlayNow.
Truly false
Offshore operators have been allowed to take bets from Canadians for years without much commotion being made. That has begun to change, though, especially since the decriminalization of single-game sports betting in Canada in 2021, and the launch of a competitive iGaming market in Ontario in 2022.
Monday's order says that Bodog advertising its websites to anyone in Manitoba as "legitimate, lawful, 'safe', or 'trusted'" constitutes a "false and misleading representation," contrary to Canadian law. Moreover, it says the Bodog-related entities, "as operators of unauthorized and illegal gambling sites" in Manitoba, have "engaged in tortious conduct by committing the unlawful means tort."
Bodog did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published.
The order issued Monday also noted that no one appeared in court on behalf of the Bodog-related respondents, Il Nido Ltd. and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. This was despite those companies being "duly served," the order says.
Offshore sportsbook Bodog is telling customers that it is exiting the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in early October. Adds "we'll be monitoring your province for regulatory changes."
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) September 24, 2024
The only operator that is regulated locally in NS is Atlantic Lottery Corp.'s PRO•LINE. pic.twitter.com/FE8fni0s53
The permanent injunction granted by the Manitoba court requires all Bodog-related entities to stop operating in a way that is accessible to Manitobans and to cease advertising to people in the province. The court is also telling Bodog to put "geo-blocking technology" in place to prevent anyone in Manitoba from accessing the operator's sites.
Whether Bodog complies with the injunction remains to be seen. However, the company has pulled out of other provinces in the past.
Most notably, the offshore sportsbook says it no longer accepts players from Nova Scotia and Quebec. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario also recently contacted media outlets and asked them “to stop promoting unregulated online gambling and sports betting sites" like Bodog.
"Operated by Il Nido Inc., Bodog is an offshore operator actively targeting Ontarians by advertising on popular traditional and digital media platforms," the AGCO said in a press release on May 14. "Despite blocking players in Quebec and Nova Scotia from accessing their unregulated gambling and sports betting sites, Bodog continues to allow Ontarians to access these sites while advertising heavily on traditional and digital media platforms targeting Ontarians."
