Ottawa Room 1000, La Promenade Building Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Tet: 613-996-1541 Fax: 613-992-5397 Windsor 1398 Ouellette Avenue, Suite 2 Windsor, Ontario NSX 118 Tel.: 519-255-1631 Fax; 519-255-7913 HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES CANADA GBn?an Masse Member of Parliament D?put? Windsor West \?Vindsor-Ouest January 2015 National Hockey League c/o Gary Bettman?Commissioner of the National Hockey League 1185 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Dear Commissioner Beitman, My name is Brian Masse-l am the federal Member of Parliament for Windsor West, which is a riding located on the Windsor-Detroit border. You have taken a specific interest in a piece of legislation that is currently in the Canadian Senate that have been working to see enacted. As you know C-290 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sports Betting) passed unopposed through the House of Commons but is now stalled in the Canadian Senate. This legislation once passed will support and create jobs in Canada, protect substantial public investments and provide additional revenue for important public social programming including education, health care as well as gambling addiction programs. To use a hockey analogy we are working very diligently to ?move the puck? on this issue and are therefore asking you to reconsider your position on 0-290 to one that is more reflective of the current and historic connection to the (legal) gambling industry. I note that while the 0-290 was being considered by the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs the NHL chose to submit a brief expressing its strong opposition to the bill. Your brief raises a number of points that I believe expose an absurd level of hypocrisy from the NHL. Most ridiculously it asserts that in its ?nearly 100 years of existence, the NHL has steadfastly opposed the spread of gambling and/or gambling related activities tied to results of NHL games.? Frankly, and simply speaking that statement is incorrect and unfortunately your incoherent position is only serving to delay the passing of this important legislation. The obvious reality is that the NHL is an active and seemingly eager participant in the gambling industry. Just recently the NHL proudly announced a multi-year partnership brian.masse@parl.gc.ca with DraftKings-a web based sports betting organization that pays out cash prizes. In fact if you log onto the main page apprises visitors that they can win ?real cash?. Your own official website provides direct links to DraflKings where people can wager on aspects of NHL games and win cash prizes. recognize that the NHL doesn?t consider betting on fantasy sports gambling; bluntly, this is an erroneous position. Fantasy sports leagues are essentially sophisticated prop betting systems. A recent column from National Post columnist Scott Stinson entitled Pro leagues want it both ways with gambling. In the piece Mr. Stinson quotes University of Alberta professor Garry Smith who explains in plain terms what fantasy sports wagering is: ?It?s online are risking money on an event with an uncertain outcome. Of course it?s gambling." Beyond your recent partnership with this specific on-line gambling site, for decades the NHL also has engaged in formal partnerships provincial gambling authorities across Canada, offering a variety of gambling products. The NHL is clearly involved in sports betting and has correctly recognized the legal gambling industry as a marketing tool that can promote greater interest in your league. Now it has come to light that the NHL is seriously contemplating another roll of the dice by allowing the puck to drop on a franchise in Las Vegas?the gambling capital of North America. Your own Board of Governors recently chose to ?not oppose? the Las Vegas ownership group from launching an exploratory season ticket drive to gauge interest. It?s clear that Las Vegas is on the top line of new potential franchise locations. Your concerns about single event sports betting do not seem to apply to potential lucrative new markets for the NHL but do apply to governments in Canada generating new revenue tools to fund important social programming. Additionally I note your brief dismisses the potential of 0-290 as a crime suppression tool. With respect I reject your qualifications to render such an assessment. The Senate Committee studying C-290 heard expert witness testimony on the question of C?290?s impact on organized crime from the former Ontario Provincial Police Deputy Commissioner of Operations?Gerald Boose who?s responsibilities included criminal intelligence, organized crime and illegal gaming who indicated the following: ?We believe that it (single event sports wagering) would be good for the Canadian public, good for the Canadian gaming industry and bad for organized crime.? Your opposition to only protects nefarious off?shore on-Iine betting sites and organized crime and a patently unfair Las Vegas monopoly. This monopoly has in fact served to create a massive illegal market generating significant revenues for individuals who should be spending their days in a State penalty box-not profiting from a legislatively protected monopoly. Your rationale is deeply flawed and ignores a fundamental and obvious reality: Single event sports? betting ALREADY exists in a major way. The illegal gambling industry in the United States is estimated to be as much as $400 Billion/Year. Typical orders of magnitude comparisons between Canada and the United States would suggest that the Canadian market is therefore $40 R. My preference would be to see those revenues supporting important social programming like health care, education and gaming addiction programs. Suggesting that by bringing this practice in greater measure into a publicly controlled environment would somehow be destructive is tantamount to suggesting that NHL games could be better managed without referees. Moreover your assertion that people would prefer to continue to bet illegally if a legal option was made available to them is both unproven and tenuous. My consultations with law enforcement officials involved in policing this sectors indicate to me that Canadians are law abiding people and who would demonstrate a clear preference to engage the legal market if this option were available. I hope you will reconsider your position on 0?290. It?s clear the NHL is involved in responsible legal gambling?now more than ever with your recent association with DraftKings and your League's long-standing partnerships with Gaming Authorities across Canada. Continuing to oppose this bill given your on-going involvement in the sector is based on flawed logic that ignores the realities of sports betting in North America and is inconsistent with your own League?s current trajectory insofar as sport betting is concerned. You may have noted recently National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver reversed the position on single event sports betting. He believes that single event sports betting would be slam dunk federal public policy stating: betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.? We agree, and hope you will arrive at this conclusion as well. Wishing you all the best in 2015. Brian asse MP. Windsor West C.C. Senator Raynell Andreychuk Senator Salma Ataullahjan Senator George Baker Senator Denise Batters Senator Diane Bellemare Senator Beyak Senator Doug Black Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu Senator Larry W. Campbell Senator Claude Carignan Senator Maria Chaput Senator Marie Charette-Poulin Senator Anne C. Cools Senator Jane Marie Cordy Senator Jim Cowan Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais Senator Dennis Dawson Senator Joseph A. Day Senator Jacques Demers Senator Don Meredith Senator Percy E. Downe Senator Norman Doyle Senator Michael Duffy Senator Lillian Eva Senator Nicole Eaton Senator Art Eggleton Senator Tobias C. Enverga Senator Suzanne Fortin?Duplessis Senator Joan Fraser Senator Linda Frum Senator George Furey Senator Irving Gerstein Senator Stephen Greene Senator C?line Hervieux-Payette Senator Leo Housakos Senator Libbe Hubley Senator Mobina S.B. Jaffer Senator Janis G. Johnson Senator Serge Joyal Senator Colin Kenny Senator Hector Daniel Lang Senator Marjory LeBreton Senator Sandra M. Lovelace Nicholas Senator Michael L. MacDonald Senator Ghislain Maltais Senator Fabian Manning Senator Elizabeth Marshall Senator Yonah Martin Senator Paul J. Massicotte Senator Elaine McCoy Senator Tom Senator Paul McIntyre Senator Terry M. Mercer Senator Pana Merchant Senator Grant Mitchell Senator Percy Mockler SenatorWiIfred P. Moore Senator Jim Munson Senator Nancy Ruth Senator Richard Neufeld Senator Thanh Hai Ngo Senator Pierre Claude Nolin Senator Kelvin Ogilvie Senator Victor on Senator Dennis Patterson Senator Don Plett Senator Rose-May Poirier Senator Nancy Greene Raine Senator Pierrette Ringuette Senator Michel Rivard Senator Jean?Claude Rivest Senator Bob Runciman Senator Judith Seidman Senator Nick G. Sibbeston Senator David P. Smith Senator Larry Smith Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen Senator Scott Tannas Senator Claudette Tardif Senator David Tkachuk Senator Betty Unger Senator Jos?e Verner Senator John D. Wallace Senator Pamela Wallin Senator Charlie Watt Senator David Wells Senator Vernon White