The escalating race for partnerships among Daily Fantasy Sports sites could soon be headed north of the border.
According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs have sought legal advice regarding DFS’s legality in Canada, prompting speculation that a deal with an unnamed daily fantasy entity could be in the works.
The Maple Leafs have not commented on the report.
Multiple DFS sites currently operate in Canada, and the NHL announced a partnership with DraftKings in November that made the platform the “Official Daily Fantasy Game of the NHL.” DraftKings also has deals in place with seven individual NHL teams, but franchises remain free to pursue their own partnerships with other DFS sites.
Two teams have already done so. The Washington Capitals announced a deal with DailyMVP in February, and news broke last week that fellow newcomer Draft Ops had landed a partnership with the New York Islanders and Barclays Center.
These marketing opportunities, highly valued by the numerous DFS sites elbowing for position within the sector, are disappearing quickly.
Twenty-four MLB teams have DFS deals in place (all with DraftKings), and 23 NBA teams and 21 NFL franchises are split between FanDuel and DraftKings. The one commonality is that they all occupy residence in the US.
So far, no Canadian-based franchise has taken the plunge, leaving a significant chunk of the unsigned franchises in North America’s big four leagues off the table. The MLB and NBA each have just one team based in Canada (both in Toronto), but the NHL has seven.
And in Canada, where the NHL dominates sports TV ratings, those franchises represent a tantalizing entry point into a market that is home to 5.2 million fantasy players, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.
Complicating matters is the legal environment in Canada. While DFS sites operate in the US within the legal protection provided in UIGEA’s fantasy sports carve-out, there is no similar legislation in Canada.
Exploring the matter in a recent article, attorneys from the firm of Dickinson Wright in Toronto noted that the “legality of fantasy sports in Canada turns on whether they are caught by the gaming and betting provisions contained in Part VII of the Canadian Criminal Code.”
The article notes that the Code defines a gaming contest as:
“A game of chance or a game of mixed chance and skill.”
This would seem to imply a stricter standard than those in most US states, where contests may rise to the level of “skill games” if the amount of skill required is considered simply greater than the amount of chance that may determine the outcome.
Which DFS operators might pursue partnerships in Canada is at this point a matter of speculation. It’s worth noting, however, that DraftKings recently applied for licenses with the United Kingdom Gambling Commission.
In a statement to ESPN’s David Purdum, company officials confirmed that DraftKings is pursuing licensure abroad for the purposes of operating its standard DFS platforms as opposed to a planned venture into traditional gaming.