Sport and Event Betting Integrity

4.32 Sport and event betting operators shall have risk management measures in place to mitigate the betting integrity risk associated with sport and event betting, including insider betting and event manipulation. (Also applicable to Gaming-Related Suppliers)

Requirements – At a minimum:

  1. Operators shall establish controls to identify unusual or suspicious betting activity and report such activity to an independent integrity monitor.
     
    Unusual betting activity is a betting pattern that deviates, including statistically, from the activity otherwise exhibited by patrons and reasonably expected by an operator or independent integrity monitor, which may indicate potential suspicious activity in the betting or the underlying sport or other event. Unusual betting activity may include the size of a patron's wager or increased wagering volume on a particular event or wager type.
     
    Suspicious betting activity is unusual betting activity that cannot be explained and is indicative of match fixing, the manipulation of an event, misuse of inside information, or other illicit activity.
  2. Independent integrity monitors shall not have any perceived or real conflicts of interests in performing the independent integrity monitor role, including such as acting as an operator or as an oddsmaker. 
  3. Independent integrity monitors shall promptly disseminate reports of unusual betting activity to all member sport betting operators.
  4. All sport and event betting operators shall review such reports and notify their independent integrity monitor of whether they have experienced similar activity.
  5. If an independent integrity monitor finds that previously reported unusual betting activity rises to the level of suspicious activity, they shall immediately notify any entity with which they have an information sharing relationship, including independent integrity monitors, sport betting operators, the appropriate governing authority for the sport or event, and any other organizations or individuals identified by the Registrar.
  6. All independent integrity monitors receiving such a report shall share such report with their member sport betting operators.
  7. Independent integrity monitors shall facilitate collaboration and information sharing to enable the investigation of and response to prohibited activity associated with the suspicious betting activity as directed by the Registrar.
  8. Independent integrity monitors shall provide, in accordance with the notification matrix, the Registrar with:
    1. All reports of unusual betting activity;
    2. If the activity was determined to be suspicious; and
    3. The actions taken by the independent integrity monitor.

Guidance: The Registrar will publish a list of registered independent integrity monitors.

4.33 An operator receiving a report of suspicious activity under Standard 4.32 may suspend or cancel sport and event betting on events related to the report or withhold associated customer funds. To this end, an Operator must ensure that it has reserved itself the authority to suspend betting, void bets, and withhold associated customer funds. The Operator’s decision to suspend or cancel sport and event betting, or withhold associated customer funds, on events related to the report must be fair, reasonable, and made in good faith.

4.34 Operators offering sport and event betting products shall ensure that all bets offered meet the following criteria [Amended: February, 2022]:

  1. The outcome of the event being bet on can be documented and verified;
  2. The outcome of the event being bet on can be generated by a reliable and independent process;
  3. The outcome of the event being bet on is not affected by any bet placed;
  4. The majority of participants in the event or league are 18 years of age or older; event shall be broadly defined as assessing total participants in the event/league, rather than in a particular heat, game, match or final contest in the overall sporting event;
  5. For sporting events being bet on, the event must be effectively supervised by a sport governing body which must, at minimum, prescribe final rules and enforces codes of conduct that include prohibitions on betting by insiders (not applicable to novelty bets);
  6. There are integrity safeguards in place which are sufficient to mitigate the risk of match-fixing, cheat-at-play, and other illicit activity that might influence the outcome of bet upon events;
  7. The bet is not on a past event for which the outcome is publicly known;
  8. The bet is not reasonably objectionable;
  9. The event being bet on does not involve animal fighting or cruelty;
  10. Bets on assets and financial markets (e.g., stocks, bonds, currencies, real property) are prohibited;
  11. Bets which expose players to losses greater than the amount wagered are prohibited;
  12. Bets which mimic the structure of financial instruments, products, or markets are prohibited;
  13. Bets on synthetic lottery products and bets on lottery outcomes are prohibited;
  14. The event being bet on is conducted in conformity with all applicable laws;
  15. Bets on minor league sports in Canada, including the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), are prohibited.

Guidance:

  • For the purpose of Req. 8, reasonably objectional bets include bets on events which are unethical, allow entertainment to be derived from human suffering or death or involve non-consensual violence or injury.
  • Req. 12 applies to contracts for difference including spread betting.