The Manitoba judge who banned Bodog in the province stated in his official reasoning for the decision that he was left with no other choice by the offshore online gambling operator’s brazen and “illegal” actions.

Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba judge Jeffrey Harris granted Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries’ (MBLL) a permanent injunction against Bodog’s parent company Il Nido Ltd. and its Canadian trademark owner Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. on May 26. The Caribbean-based brand added Manitoba to its list of restricted provinces in June.

Harris ruled that Bodog’s operators, affiliates, employees and representatives must stop operating or advertising “in a manner accessible to Manitobans,” and Bodog was told to implement geoblocking technology to cut off access to its real-money site bodog.eu in Manitoba.

The judge issued the written reasons for his decision on June 26, and they were provided to Canadian Gaming Business by the court on July 3 before being publicly posted.

He found that by taking customers’ money and advertising in the province, Bodog was in violation of the Criminal Code of Canada, the Competition Act and the Trademarks Act, and had “no lawful authority” to offer or advertise online gambling through bodog.eu, its bodog.net platform (which the company markets as a “free play for amusement purposes only” site) or any other platform in Manitoba.

‘A win that should resonate’ across Canada

More generally, and most notably for the lottery corporations, Harris confirmed that the Criminal Code Section 207 gives provincial governments the exclusive authority to conduct gaming operations or license organizations to do so.

“MBLL clearly enjoys legal rights with respect to online gaming,” he wrote. “MBLL has the sole legal authority to operate online gambling platforms in Manitoba.”

MBLL filed the injunction application on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC), which is comprised of MBLL, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), Loto-Québec and Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS).

In all those provinces, lotteries’ platforms such as MBLL’s PlayNow.com are the only government-authorized online gambling operations.

Speaking to Canadian Gaming Business on Thursday, CLC Executive Director Will Hill described the judge’s verdict and reasoning as “a win that should resonate within Manitoba, but, quite frankly, all the way across the Canadian gaming industry.”

“Where in the past there’s been a degree of ambiguity, Judge Harris seemed to be fairly unambiguous in what he said,” Hill added. “We do believe this is reaffirming the view that we had traditionally held of the Criminal Code.”

Old dog, same tricks

As for his specific reasons for kicking Bodog to the curb, Harris not only took issue with its gambling offerings themselves but also the way the company markets them.

“Critically, it advertises itself as a ‘legal online casino in Canada; and says that ‘it is one of the safest places to gamble online within the realms of [Canada],'” he wrote, also noting that numerous statements on Bodog’s websites indicate that it targets marketing to Canadian consumers.

An independent consultant retained by MBLL found that players in Manitoba had been able to access the real-money site, register using a Manitoba address, deposit funds from a Canadian bank account in Canadian dollars and gamble. Bodog never asked a Manitoba player to confirm their location and did not impose location-based restrictions despite having the ability to do so, the judge’s reasoning stated.

MBLL also found that Bodog “extensively” advertises and promotes its gambling platforms to Manitoba residents through social media advertising on sites including Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook and YouTube.

Painful bite marks

MBLL President and CEO Gerry Sul said in a CLC statement on July 3 that by operating and advertising in Manitoba, “Bodog’s conduct has not only been unlawful, the harm their illegal operations have caused to MBLL – and Manitobans – is incalculable.”

The judge agreed.

“Bodog’s ongoing operation of its illegal gambling platforms in Manitoba inflicts new and ever-increasing and incalculable harm on MBLL each day.”

Judge Jeffrey Harris

Harris determined that Bodog’s “demonstrably false” claim of lawfulness, legitimacy, trustworthiness and safety “diminishes the goodwill associated with the MBLL marks.” All of this causes significant incalculable financial harm to the applicant, he wrote, adding that financial damages would be an inadequate remedy.

As Bodog is based offshore, out of the Manitoba government’s reach, and as it did not respond to previous communication efforts from MBLL or to a court summons, Harris wrote that he found that there was no adequate alternative solution other than a permanent injunction.

Ready for a dogfight?

The granted injunction relates only to the operator’s activities within the province of Manitoba, but this is far from a single-province issue.

While Bodog says it has blocked access in three provinces, with Québec and Nova Scotia also listed as unavailable on its .eu site, it states publicly that it accepts players from the rest of Canada. Because no Canadian federal or provincial government regulates or controls Bodog’s activities, the operator is not obliged to pay taxes, implement responsible gambling practices or comply with anti-money laundering requirements.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has cited Bodog by name in its fight to stamp out unlicensed operators in Ontario’s commercial regulated iGaming market.

Hill told Canadian Gaming Business previously that the coalition is “committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means on a pan-national basis.” He reiterated that to us on Thursday, noting that the fact that numerous lottery corporations have united “speaks to the nature and the scope of the problem.”

“One of the big challenges is that this is just one operator,” he added. “So, as much as we can celebrate this win and all that Judge Harris said in his reasons, there is still an incredible amount of work that remains to be done.”