Report BRITISH COLUMBIA
HORSE RACING Horse Racing in British Columbia is regulated by the Racing Division of the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch which provides rules and management of racing events and licence participants.
There are five race tracks in the province and 2,900 licensed owners, jockeys, drivers, trainers and grooms who are involved in this industry and participate in the 168 race days (or 1,597 races) conducted last year. The British Columbia racing industry is responsible for 12 per cent of the total Canadian racing sector.
The four thoroughbred tracks are Sagebrush Downs in Kamloops, Sunflower Downs in Princeton, Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver and Kin Park in Vernon with one standardbred track at Fraser Downs Racetrack in Surrey.
Recently the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation received a two year extension to its operating agreement for its Hasting Racecourse property from the city of Vancouver. The extension means the licence will run until 2014. Hastings has been in operation at its current location for over 123 years.
Meanwhile there are 22 Tele-theatre sites across the province which then present simulcast satellite broadcasts of horse races run on local, national and international tracks.
Wagering at the five race tracks in the province amounted to $182m last year and of this amount around 75 per cent is wagered on simulcast races and the remaining on live races. The sector employs around 7-8,000 people and the overall economic impact from this industry was $350m. The GPEB gave a $10m grant to revitalise the horse racing industry last year.
However the industry has been declining over the last decade and in 2009 the ministry was asked to revitalise the sector and established the BC Horse Racing Industry Revitalisation Initiative which has seen several changes to improve the sector including new revenue initiatives, improving player interest and cost efficiency in operations.
The licence application fee for horse racing operators is $5,000 per gaming facility and $1,000 for tele-theatre operators. Taxes are: a) 2.5% of the amount bet anywhere other than in a triactor pool or b) 4.5% of the amount bet in a triactor pool.
Horse racing in BC is funded through 18 per cent commission on pari-mutuel wagering and 15.5% commission on net
February 2013 PAGE 112 Recently the Great
Canadian Gaming Corporation
received a two year extension to its operating
agreement for its Hasting
Racecourse
property from the city of Vancouver. The extension
means the licence will run until 2014.
Hastings has been in operation at its
current location for over 123 years.
In 1985 the
province formed its own entity to
operate lotteries via the BCLC and every year awards more than $49m in
prizes. Today they offer national games such as
Lotto Max and 6/49 plus provincial games such as BC49, Poker Lotto,
SportsFunder 50/50 and Extra. They
also have Scratch and Win and Pull Tab games and quick play games
such as Keno and Pacific Hold em Poker.
slot revenues. Last year the horse racing industry saw revenues of $44.41m.
LOTO AND ONLINE GAMING Lotteries began in British Columbia in 1969 when the Criminal Code of Canada was amended to authorise such games and at first the province formed a partnership with other provinces in Western Canada to sell lottery products.
In 1985 the province formed its own entity to operate lotteries via the BCLC and every year awards more than $49m in prizes. Today they offer national games such as Lotto Max and 6/49 plus provincial games such as BC49, Poker Lotto, SportsFunder 50/50 and Extra. They also have Scratch and Win and Pull Tab games and quick play games such as Keno and Pacific Hold em Poker.
There are 4,000 lottery retailers across the province located in retail stores, petrol stations, lottery kiosks, bars and pubs. Products are also available via the online gambling website
Playnow.com.
In 2010 the BCLC became the first to offer
provincially legal and regulated online casino games in North America which is only available to BC residents aged 19 years or over.
Its website
Playnow.com which offered lottery games was expanded to include casino games, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps and poker, plus bingo, slots and games. In the event the federal government amends the Criminal code to allow single event sports betting then the
PlayNow.com has the flexibility to adapt to this.
After launching with casino games this was then followed in an agreement with Loto Quebec in February 2011 when they began offering peer to peer poker on a shared network.
The province apparently wants to recover the estimated $100m British Columbian residents spend elsewhere on online gaming. In 2009 the province generated $34m from its online gambling operations. Last year
PlayNow.com generated $66m in revenue and posted 53 per cent growth driven by eCasino and eLottery.
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