Less than four years after the Supreme Court of the United States paved the way for American states to launch mobile/online and in-person sports betting, the Canadian province of Ontario finally joined the industry.

Sports betting was previously illegal in most parts of the United States (Nevada was a notable exception) under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), which was signed into law in Oct. 1992. 

But in May 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the PASPA was a violation of the nation’s Tenth Amendment. The ruling allowed each state to legalize sports betting (both in-person and mobile/online) if they so wished.

Fast forward to the final quarter of 2022, and 30 different states now legalize some fashion of sports betting. That number will only continue to grow, as the states of Kansas and Ohio are nearing the finish line. Maryland and Massachusetts have made significant progress and will hopefully launch by some point in 2023.

Then in April of this year, Legal and licensed Ontario online casino sites launched in Canada’s most populated province. Ontario became the first Canadian province or territory to legalize sports betting, and it remains the only one to have done so up to this point.

The many popular online casinos in Ontario include Party Casino, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and Leo Vegas. The casinos offer your favorite games such as blackjack, poker, slots, roulette and live dealers. There are thousands of available slot machines to use through the Ontario online casino sites.

Beginning Sports Betting In Ontario

The Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s lone Major League Baseball team, didn’t wait long to join the sports betting industry.

In April, the Blue Jays and theScore Bet sportsbook announced a 10-year partnership. The announcement noted that the partnership will include the development of a restaurant and sports bar inside the Rogers Centre (the Blue Jays’ home venue) that will be open every day of the year.

Broadcasts on Sportsnet (the network that carries Blue Jays games), have widely included plenty of advertisements on sports betting. 

Also in April, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) announced partnerships with the PointsBet, FanDuel and PokerStars sportsbooks. MLSE owns the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, the MLS Toronto FC club as well as the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts.

Residents of Ontario can place wagers on the Toronto-based professional sports teams through these sportsbooks. At FanDuel, the Maple Leafs share the second-best 2023 Stanley Cup odds with the Carolina Hurricanes (+1000). They trail only the defending champion Colorado Avalanche, who carry odds of +450.

Though the Blue Jays have been mired in inconsistent play all season long, FanDuel gives them the sixth-best World Series odds at +1500. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (+300), Houston Astros (+380), New York Yankees (+450), New York Mets (+500) and defending champion Atlanta Braves (+1200) have higher odds than the Jays.

The financial records and statistics for sports betting are available for the public to access in the U.S. states that have legalized mobile/online and/or in-person sports betting. There, you can check out stats such as how much money was wagered in the states for each month, and you can see how much money the licensed casinos and sportsbooks took in.

However, the province of Ontario has yet to reveal the data on statistics such as the amount of money wagered and the tax revenue through sports betting.

That said, it’s safe to guess that the numbers will be enormous when you consider multiple factors. Again, for starters, Ontario is Canada’s most populated province.

Also, Toronto is the only city in Canada with an MLB team (the Blue Jays) and an NBA squad (the Raptors). They have two NHL teams in the Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators and three CFL teams in the Argonauts, Ottawa Redblacks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

And though all 32 NFL teams are based in the United States, nearby teams like the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears have giant fanbases in Ontario.

Ontario was the first Canadian province or territory to join the sports gambling industry that’s booming in the United States. With a high population and several major professional sports franchises, the province could very well soon emerge as a worldwide leader in the online casino/sports betting industry.