Offshore Sportsbook Bodog Hit With Manitoba Court Injunction

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 approved an injunction on Monday against Bodog, an online gaming operator based in Antigua and Barbuda.


The windows registry says the injunction was given and signed in court. Reasons are to follow at a later date.


Monday's injunction was effectively looked for by the government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. (MBLL), which alleged Bodog was operating illegally in the province. MBLL likewise claimed that Bodog was diverting company away from its online gaming platform, PlayNow.


PlayNow is the only authorized iGaming website in Manitoba, and its proprietor, MBLL, desires Bodog to stop marketing 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 legal authority to offer online gaming services and products, whether through bodog.eu, bodog.net or any other related follower or replacement sites, or to market such online items and services to individuals found in Manitoba, as such activities contrast areas 201, 202, and 206 of the Criminal Code," Monday's order said.


- Government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. has actually 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 gambling establishment betting website 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 huge "grey market" for online gambling.


The injunction obtained on Monday was submitted on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, an advocacy group that consists of a number of government-owned video gaming corporations, consisting of MBLL.


Those lottos have actually been pushing back versus offshore iGaming operators in Canada. A court injunction against Bodog might now set an important precedent.


That is because, with the exception of Ontario, the bulk of online gaming in Canada takes place in the so-called "grey market."


The term reflects online betting happening on sites that may be regulated abroad or outside a particular province, but not by the province where the bets are actually being positioned. Those "grey" for organization with provincially controlled sites like PlayNow.


Truly incorrect


Offshore operators have been allowed to take bets from Canadians for many years without much turmoil being made. That has begun to alter, though, specifically because 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 promoting its websites to anyone in Manitoba as "legitimate, lawful, 'safe', or 'trusted'" makes up a "false and misleading representation," contrary to Canadian law. Moreover, it says the Bodog-related entities, "as operators of unapproved and prohibited betting websites" in Manitoba, have actually "taken part in tortious conduct by dedicating the unlawful methods tort."


Bodog did not react to an ask for comment before this story was released.


The order issued Monday also noted that nobody appeared in court on behalf of the Bodog-related respondents, Il Nido Ltd. and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. This was regardless of those business being "properly served," the order says.


Offshore sportsbook Bodog is informing consumers that it is leaving the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in early October. Adds "we'll be monitoring your province for regulative modifications."


The only operator that is managed locally in NS is Atlantic Lottery Corp.'s PRO • LINE. pic.twitter.com/FE8fni0s53


The long-term injunction granted by the Manitoba court requires all Bodog-related entities to stop running in a method that is accessible to Manitobans and to cease advertising to people in the province. The court is likewise telling Bodog to put "geo-blocking innovation" in place to avoid anybody in Manitoba from accessing the operator's websites.


Whether Bodog abide by the injunction stays to be seen. However, the business has actually taken out of other provinces in the past.


Most notably, the offshore sportsbook states it no longer accepts players from Nova Scotia and Quebec. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario likewise recently contacted media outlets and asked "to stop promoting uncontrolled online gambling and sports wagering sites" like Bodog.