'What's next?' Riders' Armstead focused on showdown with Ottawa
3h ago
"I have a 'What's next?' mentality," said Ryquell Armstead, who faces his former team on Saturday.
Single-game sports betting will soon become legal in Canada.
Conservative MP Kevin Waugh’s private member’s Bill C-218 will allow for amendments to the Criminal Code to give that type of gambling the green light.
The bill was approved by the House of Commons and the Senate, and now only needs royal assent, which is expected to be granted in a few days by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada — who’s acting as the governor general.
Speaking with Gormley on Wednesday, Waugh — the MP for Saskatoon-Grasswood — says single-game sports betting could even save the CFL.
“They are now able to sell the stat packages available to … all these online gambling sites that we have,” he said. “Each team in the CFL has a payroll of just over $5 million. So if I can provide $1.5 million to $2 million with my private member’s bill to them, you know, I’ve saved the league 30 to 40 per cent of their salaries.”
He says everyone is looking for new revenue sources.
Provincial governments are in charge of lotteries, and they also stand to make billions from this type of gambling. But it’s not clear how this is going to roll out in Saskatchewan just yet.
Waugh says talks are going on between various parties.
“In our province of Saskatchewan, I’m hearing that SIGA (the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority) is going to be heavily involved … I think this is going to go the way of an app on a phone,” he added.
He says B.C. will likely be the first province out with an app to allow for single-game/event sports betting, but those living in other provinces won’t likely be able to get in on the game just yet.
“I know the Riders are going to announce a massive loss today from the last season,” Waugh said of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are holding their annual general meeting Wednesday. “So the Riders and SIGA have been in discussions for sponsorship.”
The end game, says Waugh, is to get people more engaged with their teams not only in the stadium but from home — and to get the numbers of viewers and radio listeners up significantly.