Shares in online gaming tech group Bragg Gaming (BRAG) are on the rise, as the Liberal Government seeks to amends current betting legislation.
Earlier this week Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General David T. Lametti introduced a bill to decriminalise single-event sports betting.
If passed, the new legislation would permit provinces and territories to regulate and conduct single-event sports betting on any sporting event except horse racing. In simple terms, this would allow patrons to bet on the outcome of a single sports game, a practice which is currently forbidden under Canadian law.
This could be great news for Bragg Gaming, which develops solutions for the gambling industry, including for online sports betting clients that are likely to benefit from the new bill.
Commenting on the proposed legislations Bragg board member Rob Godfrey said the company was very supportive of the move to legalizing single-event betting.
“Jurisdictions around the world are modernizing their gaming regulations to reflect today’s global gaming market, and Canadians – and the country’s operators – should have the same ability to place bets as their international peers,” he added.
Rob went on to say that many Canadians are already placing single-event bets through illegal black-market channels.
“This proposed legislation will move a significant portion of these activities to a safer, more regulated environment that better protects Canadians’ interests while also ensuring a level playing field for Canadian operators,” Rob concluded.
Critics of the bill claim the loosening of regulations will most likely increase the instances of problem gambling and potentially exacerbate gaming addition issues across Canadian communities.
Bragg Gaming is currently up 5.41 per cent and is trading at C$0.78 cents per share at 10.26am EST.