Scientific Games and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation jointly announced Thursday they’ve released new ticket-builder offerings for bettors, real-time odds, and futures odds through the WCLC’s existing Sport Select platform.
Sport Select is available to bettors in the Canadian Prairie Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as northern remote regions of the country including Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. Bettors can use the online platform to build their betting tickets, but still need to generate a QR code, and then officially purchase their tickets at participating retailers.
“We’re thrilled to offer this convenient new online approach to building a betting slip,” said Tedda Sandercock, vice president of IT for WCLC, “while maintaining a more traditional method of building a ticket at retail for players who prefer it.”
New sports betting games include Point Spread, Pro-Line Props, Over/Under, and Futures as part of the site revamp. There is a $100 limit on wagers.
Sport Select is powered by Scientific Games’ sports betting engine and central gaming systems technology. WCLC, a non-profit organization that operates lottery and gaming-related activity for the six aforementioned regions in Canada, also has an online subscription with Scientific Games, a global sports betting business and technology provider to many lotteries across the globe that utilizes a player account management platform and provides access to online instant games.
Other sports betting options available
Bettors in the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba already have the PlayNow online sports betting platform, which is run by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission, so these upgrades to Sport Select isn’t as noteworthy. Bettors may favor the convenience of betting online with PlayNow over having to scan QR codes and heading to their nearest retailer for Sport Select.
However, bettors in the more remote areas of Saskatchewan, Nunavut, Yukon, and Northwest Territories still don’t have an option to bet online, and will have to visit a participating retail locations to purchase tickets.
Saskatchewan will have an online gaming option available sometime in 2022, when the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority launches its sportsbook to compete with Sport Select in the province. The bidding process has closed, and SIGA should be announcing the private operator it’s selected to run the site in the coming months.
Canada news: The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority is getting closer to launching online gaming after signing an unprecedented deal.
(by @GregwarrenBC)https://t.co/u01FiYFORb
— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) December 15, 2021
Additionally, Alberta is now accepting a Request for Proposals for two private operators to revamp its sports betting options. The AGLC desires to have sports betting kiosks in all of the venues of its four professional sports teams — Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Elks, Calgary Flames, and Calgary Stampeders — by the end of 2022. It’s unclear which private operators will bid, but some of the possibilities include DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, BetMGM, and theScore, among others.
Big sports betting news out of Alberta today. https://t.co/IC6gtoL4Wc
— gregwarrenBC (@GregwarrenBC) December 10, 2021
Single-game sports betting was legalized across the country with the passing of Bill C-218 in late August. Currently, provincially run lotteries are the only legal sports betting options in the country. Ontario is expected to open its market to private operators in the first quarter of 2022.
