Betting Competition is Better Pricing, Except in Canadian Horse Racing

I was perusing some tennis bets this morning and did some comparison shopping in the Great White Tundra. 

In Canada, as some may know, the market is grey, but more and more companies are taking single game wagers. Last year, this was much different, as the only onshore site accepting bets was run by a First Nations tribe, where the Feds appeared to look the other way. 

For customers of that website, the prices are, ahem, pretty bad. Comparing today's tennis matches to Pinnacle, each and every bet doesn't approach their juice. It's a non-starter. 

As more and more single game sites come online when it becomes legal, this website will clearly have to change or, over time, go broke. 

In horse racing land in Canada, this is also the case, minus any new competition. Woodbine's wagering arm - HPI - continues to hold a monopoly and as Erick points out on his twitter feed - the prices are atrocious. 

Updated Takeout for TB tracks offered by @HPIbet highlighting t/increased rates Canadians are subjected to. Im optimistic that 2022 will be the year #woodbine higher rates will be ruled a violation of Canada's Criminal Code allowing Cdn's to participate in a real pari-mutel game pic.twitter.com/uB6bXMT2Ps

— Hey #Woodbine be fair and Match The Takeout Rates! (@Epo13) January 2, 2022

The highlights (lowlights) are eye opening, with as much as 5.32% juice added to the Los Al tris. That's over a 20% increase to a Canadian bettor. 

For big days, like this past year's Breeders Cup, we see even more of it. 

Note below the higher #BreedersCup takeout rates Cdns pay as a result of #Woodbine taking advantage of their online pari-mutuel monopoly
P/S-19% vs 15.43
Tri-29 vs 23.68
Super/P3-28 vs 23.86
Matched
W-15.43%
Ex,Q,P4-22.68
DD-20
P5,SH5-23.68 -early P5 not offered to Cdns
P6-23.68

— Hey #Woodbine be fair and Match The Takeout Rates! (@Epo13) November 5, 2021

Unlike for Canadian sports bettors, there is no White Knight riding in on a horse to provide competition to Woodbine's ADW stranglehold on beleaguered customers. It's all bet it or forget it. 

It's easy to see sports betting being a success in Canada over the next decade. The US experience proves that with investment and competition it can be done, and consumers can get a great product at decent pricing. Canada will follow suit and we can expect to see betting exchanges, large global sports betting enterprises and others enter the landscape, making the system work. 

In horse racing, unless governments step in to protect consumers and allow the market to open up to encourage competition, I think the racing consumer will be looking at 29% tri juice for a very long time. 

Have a nice Tuesday everyone.