ALL OR NOTHING SAYS TOP CANADIAN RACING OFFICIAL

An intersting sequel to Ontario attempts to ban online gambling advertising

David Willmot, the chairman and chief executive officer of the large Canadian-based Woodbine Entertainment Group, which provides horse racing for Canadian bettors, has not minced his words in addressing the provincial government of Ontario on its proposed ban on Internet gambling advertising.

Willmot wants the Ontario government to give him a chance to compete on a level field against offshore Internet gambling companies according to a report filed by James Christie of the Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Proposed legislation before the Ontario legislature would ban advertising for on-line gambling operations, crippling such businesses in the jurisdiction, according to the paper. The advertising ban could also put a financial dent in businesses that sell advertising space for the sites. These would include media outlets and four Canadian Football League clubs, Toronto, Hamilton, Calgary and Edmonton, which have an agreement for on-field advertising of gambling sites. The CFL as a league ended its agreement with Bowmans Sportsbook and replaced it with an agreement for a non-betting site, partypoker.net.

"Either throw the [online gambling] field wide open for the domestic gambling industry to participate or enact legislation that will run the foreign-based World Wide Web gambling operations right off the track," David Willmot, the chairman and chief executive officer of Woodbine Entertainment Group, told the government. "We'd be happy with either scenario," he said. "The scenario I'm not happy with is status quo. We have laws that make online gambling illegal that are not being enforced because the government can't touch those operators.

"But if we tried to open up a sportsbook, or online casino or poker room, the police would be on our doorstep the next day. They know where we are. Do we support the legislation? Absolutely, because online gambling is illegal. We have laws, but they are not being enforced. So, either you change them or you allow us to compete."

In the end, Willmot said, the moralistic stand adopted by the United States, invoking Wire Act laws for an outright prohibition of online gaming, is the wrong course to take.

"The gaming genie is out of the bottle. Only the United States is trying to make it a moral issue."