Canada’s landmark decision for the passage of Bill C-218 in the Senate has stolen the headlines of late in the world of sports betting.

In the latest episode of the Legal Sports Report (LSR), Matt Brown and Dustin Gouker delved into the new era of single sports betting in the country and which operators might be interested in testing the Canadian waters.

“We’ve been talking about this for weeks but the parliament finally got to a final vote and passage of the bill that would repeal the ban on single-game wagering,” Gouker explained.

“This is much the same dynamic as the United States had – the Supreme Court case allowed states to regulate sports betting. This basically opens up Canada to having provinces doing exactly what they want when it comes to sports betting and we already know several provinces are going to take this up in very short order.

“You’re going to see single-game wagering coming to Canada possibly by the end of the year. The only step left is Royal Assent which is basically a formality, so I’m told, in the Canadian legislative process.

“This is big news for Canada and it opens up the sports betting market much like it did in the US three years ago now.”

Brown, on the other hand, observed the reaction from some of the biggest sportsbooks and operators in the market upon the news.

He said: “I saw celebrations coming from all of the players in the industry that you would assume are going to be involved here, so I saw the DraftKings sportsbook and the FanDuel sportsbook.

“I assume from what we know right now, we can only assume that everybody that’s in play down here or the majority of them will at least be looking to get in up there as well.”

Home of the Canadian capital, Ontario was highlighted as a potential hotspot by Gouker, who noted the potential of the province when the market opens up to bettors and gamers.

“The big one is Ontario – it’s got 40% of the population and they are opening up, not just sports betting, but it looks like online casino and poker either sometime later this year or early next year,” he  detailed. “That is why everybody is excited. It’s not open season everywhere tomorrow but Ontario is going to be a wide open, fairly competitive market by all accounts.

“All these big companies believe – and there’s no reason not to believe – that you’re going to get into Ontario and it’s going to be a free-for-all. I don’t think it’s quite unlimited but everybody’s going to get in.”