Canada’s likely single-game sports betting launch in 2021 might open up another key North America’s betting market at the same time giving a new chance for bettors further south.

Last week, Canadian officials reaffirmed the government’s commitment to legal betting all over the country. Legislation is advancing through Parliament and it is hoped that single-game betting could start by fall 2021.

In Ontario, the most populated providence in Canada, backers see a chance to rival some of the US’ largest state markets. With twice the population of New Jersey, Ontario could become one of the highest-grossing jurisdictions in the continent.

New York Looks For Another Neighboring Market

Since mobile sports betting legislation lingers in the statehouse, some upstate New York residents might be closer than ever before to legal betting, both figuratively and literally.

Residents of Buffalo, the second-largest metro area of New York, could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of legal Canadian sports betting thanks to its symbiotic relationship with Niagara Falls. There are more than 10 million people who crossed the Niagara River border in 2019, the most of any entry point between the two countries.

Once the border restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic are fully lifted and Canadian sports betting starts, Buffalo residents will be among thousands of New York citizens living near a legal online betting market.

It also means New York will border three of the continent’s highest-grossing sports betting jurisdictions in Pennsylvania, Ontario, and New Jersey.

Additional States Could See Impacts

Legal Canadian sports betting might come as some states consider legal betting in 2021. Maine, having come just a few votes short of legal sports wagering in 2020, could soon see legal betting in its border neighbors of New Brunswick and Quebec.

Vermont also sees a million crossings at its Highgate Springs-Alburg as well as Derby Line borders with Quebec every year. New Hampshire, allowing statewide mobile betting exclusively through DraftKings, can also have new betting options to its north, although it has fewer border crossings than its eastern and western neighbors.