Offshore Sportsbook Bodog Hit With Manitoba Court Injunction

An offshore sportsbook has formally 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 versus Bodog, an operator based in Antigua and Barbuda.


The computer registry says the injunction was approved and checked in court. Reasons are to follow at a later date.


Monday's injunction was effectively sought by the government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. (MBLL), which declared Bodog was running unlawfully in the province. MBLL also claimed that Bodog was diverting company far from its online gambling platform, PlayNow.


PlayNow is the only authorized iGaming website in Manitoba, and its owner, MBLL, desires Bodog to stop advertising and operating within the province. On Monday, that is what the court informed Bodog to do.


"This court orders and states that the Respondents have no legal authority to offer online gambling services and products, whether through bodog.eu, bodog.net or any other related successor or replacement sites, or to market such online product or services to persons found in Manitoba, as such activities are contrary to areas 201, 202, and 206 of the Criminal Code," Monday's order stated.


- Government-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. has gotten 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 overseas sportsbook and gambling establishment gaming site is breaking the law and diverting company far from MBLL's PlayNow platform.
- The injunction is a potentially precedent-setting advancement for Canada, which has a huge "grey market" for online gambling.


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


Those lottery games have been pressing back versus overseas iGaming operators in Canada. A court injunction against Bodog could now set a crucial precedent.


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


The term reflects online gambling happening on sites that might be managed abroad or outside a specific province, however not by the province where the bets are really being placed. Those "grey" sites complete for organization with provincially regulated websites like PlayNow.


Truly incorrect


Offshore operators have been enabled to take bets from Canadians for years without much commotion being made. That has begun to change, though, especially 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 "genuine, legal, 'safe', or 'relied on'" constitutes a "incorrect and deceptive representation," contrary to Canadian law. Moreover, it says the Bodog-related entities, "as operators of unauthorized and unlawful betting websites" in Manitoba, have actually "engaged in tortious conduct by devoting the unlawful means tort."


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


The order released Monday likewise kept in mind that nobody appeared in court on behalf of the Bodog-related participants, Il Nido Ltd. and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. This was despite those companies being "properly 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 modifications."


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


The irreversible injunction granted by the Manitoba court requires all Bodog-related entities to stop running in such a way that is accessible to Manitobans and to cease marketing to individuals in the province. The court is also informing Bodog to put "geo-blocking technology" in location to prevent anybody in Manitoba from accessing the operator's sites.


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


Most significantly, the offshore sportsbook says it no longer accepts players from Nova Scotia and Quebec. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario also just recently contacted media outlets and asked them "to stop promoting uncontrolled online gaming and sports betting sites" like Bodog.