A Manitoba court has directed grey market operator Bodog to stop its operations in the Canadian province, marking the most recent action taken against the Caribbean-based firm.
In January, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) submitted an injunction to the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench representing the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC) against Il Nido Ltd., the operator of Bodog, and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd., the owner of the Canadian trademarks.
PlayNow.com is Manitoba's sole legal multiproduct gaming site. The order aimed to prohibit Bodog from conducting business and promoting its product in the province.
CLC signifies a partnership among the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Loto Quebec, MBLL, and Lotteries & Gaming Saskatchewan.
Geo-Blocking Necessary
CLC claimed that a considerable share of revenues that typically would enter its accounts was being redirected to Bodog. CLC requested Bodog to remove its site on two separate occasions.
CLC Executive Director Will Hill mentioned in February that PlayNow.com must contend with illegal online gambling operators, unregulated websites, and deceptive advertising on a daily basis.
Advertising Ban
“It’s significant, in the hundreds of millions,” Hill said in February of the revenue loss. “But what’s more concerning was that in the period of 2019 to 2023 there was a double-digit increase in the compound annual growth rate,” he added.
In the ruling on Monday, the court determined that “the Respondents lack the legal authority to provide online gambling products and services, whether via bodog.eu, bodog.net, or any related successor or replacement sites, or to promote such online products and services to individuals in Manitoba, as these actions violate sections 201, 202, and 206 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46.”
The judge granted a permanent injunction mandating that Bodog stop operating bodog.eu. They must stop all promotional activities on the platform (claiming that the promotions were inaccurate and deceptive). The court also instructed Bodog to use geo-blocking technology at bodog.eu to stop anyone in Manitoba from accessing it.
AGCO Intensifies Action Against Bodog
The CLC did not respond for comments, but the judge plans to make public remarks about the decision in the upcoming weeks.
Ultimately, the court's decision represented a notable victory for provincial lotteries over unlawful platforms such as Bodog.
In May, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario released a statement urging media platforms that promote unregulated gambling sites like Bodog to cease doing so.
Bodog's operators are presently preventing players in Quebec and Nova Scotia from using their platform while they are “promoting extensively” on both traditional and digital channels in Ontario, drawing players to that region.