On August 27, 2021, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) legalized single-game sports betting in the province of New Brunswick. The ALC regulates all gambling in N.B, and the only legal sports betting option is Pro-Line. Online wagers can be confirmed on Pro-Line Stadium while moneylines, Over/Unders, point spreads, and other bet types can be placed at ALC retailers.
With the ever-evolving sports betting landscape in New Brunswick, there’s a possibility that one of the two casinos in the province could house a retail sportsbook. Until then, New Brunswickers will have to wager with Pro-Line on single events. Legal offshore sports betting sites outperform provincially regulated offerings with better odds, bonuses, promotions, and wagering opportunities.
New Brunswick Sports Betting
The province of New Brunswick offers sports betting and gaming enthusiasts a number of different ways to play, including paper-based lotteries and sports betting games, land-based casinos, and thousands of VLTs located in privately-owned liquor-licensed establishments across the province.
Charitable gaming activities available in New Brunswick include bingo, ticket lotteries, and carnival-style games of chance. In addition to these provincially-operated and regulated gaming options, New Brunswick players are also taking advantage of the growing number of offshore-based online sportsbooks, poker rooms and casinos.
Gaming Laws In New Brunswick
Gaming and sports betting activities in New Brunswick are governed by the province's Gaming Control Act, which was passed into law by the provincial legislature in 2008.
According to the Act, a crown corporation called the New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation (NBLGC) is mandated to organize, operate and manage all regulated gaming and provincial lottery.
The passing of the Gaming Control Act also led to the creation of the Gaming Control Branch, a branch of the province's Department of Public Safety which regulates and controls all provincial gaming, in addition to the regulation, control and licensing of all charitable gaming activities in New Brunswick.
NBLGC oversees the province's sole land-based casino, while the Gaming Control Branch is responsible for the regulation of video lottery terminals (VLTs) located in licensed establishments across the province.
NBLGC is also a shareholder in Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) which operates ticket and video lotteries in Canada's four maritime provinces, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
Founded in 1976, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), also known as Loto Atlantique, was established to operate all lottery games in Canada's four maritime provinces. Jointly owned by the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, ALC is headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick and employs over 600 people across Atlantic Canada.
The ALC is a member organization of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which operates lottery games across Canada. Acting on behalf of NBLGC, which controls New Brunswick's stake on behalf of the province, the ALC works in conjunction with the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation to offer popular lottery games, including Lotto 649 and Lotto Max, and paper-based and online sports betting games, including PRO-LINE and the ProLineStadium.com sports betting portal.
Sports Betting In New Brunswick
ALC currently operates paper-based and online sports betting games in the province of New Brunswick under the following brand names: PRO-LINE, PRO-LINE Fantasy, PRO-LINE Futures and Stadium-Bets. Online sports betting games are available for play via ALC's ProLineStadium.com web-based portal.
PRO-LINE
PRO-LINE is an odds-based sports betting game that allows players to predict outcomes on two- to eight-event parlays. Wager formats available to parlay on a PRO-LINE bet include moneyline, point spreads, and point totals. All selections must be correct for the parlay to be declared a Sportsbook. The minimum wager is $2, while the maximum wager on a PRO-LINE ticket is $25.
Sports available to wager on include professional and college football, professional and college basketball, baseball, soccer and hockey.
PRO-LINE Fantasy
PRO-LINE Fantasy is an odds-based sports betting game that allows players to parlay between two and five player/team props selections. The minimum wager is $2 and the maximum wager is $25.
PRO-LINE Futures
PRO-LINE Futures is an odds-based sports betting game that allows players to wager on a single selection from a games list. For example, a games list may provide the option to select a tournament, division or league champion from a list of all active participants. The minimum wager is $2 and the maximum wager is $100.
Stadium-Bets
Like PRO-LINE, Stadium-Bets is an odds-based sports betting game that allows players to predict outcomes on two- to eight-event parlays. Wager formats available to parlay on a Stadium-Bets wager include moneyline, point spreads, and point totals. However, Stadium-Bets wagering is only available online via ALC's ProLineStadium.com portal. The minimum wager is $2 and the maximum wager is $250.
No Single Team Sports Betting
Since single-team sports betting is illegal under Canada's criminal code, the ALC and New Brunswick casinos offer no single-team sports betting games. ALC's parlay offerings also offer significantly poorer odds compared to online sportsbook options operated off-shore, with the house edge on PRO-LINE wagers estimated at over 30 percent, compared with single digits for online sportsbooks.
Poker And Casino In New Brunswick
There is currently one land-based casino in operation in the province of New Brunswick. Casino New Brunswick is located in the city of Moncton, in close proximity to Magnetic Hill. The casino is operated by Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Limited Partnership (Sonco), which was selected as operator by the province in 2008 following a competitive bid process.
Shortly after Sonco's selection, construction on Casino New Brunswick began, which was conducted without any public funding.
While there are no land-based casinos in operation on First Nations reserves in New Brunswick, several gaming centers offering video slots, bingo and Texas Hold 'em are welcoming players.
The Eagle's Nest Gaming Palace located near Woodstock, New Brunswick, and operated by the Woodstock First Nation, offers video slots and bingo, and regularly holds Texas Hold 'em tournaments.
The Tobique Gaming Center is located on and operated by the Tobique First Nation. It also offers video slots and bingo, and operates poker tournaments and table games through the Soaring Eagle Poker Room.
The province has also entered into a series of agreements that enable First Nations communities to share in the profits of the province's gaming operations.
Poker rooms are also available at Casino New Brunswick, while charitable organizations can apply for licenses to hold fundraising events at licensed facilities.
NBLGC currently has 2000 VLTs in operation at 300 liquor-licensed establishments across New Brunswick, which generated $90 million in revenue for the province in 2011-2012. The number of VLTs in operation in New Brunswick has decreased from 2,650 in 2010.
Other Gaming Options In New Brunswick
While gaming operations are strictly controlled in the province of New Brunswick, gaming and sports betting fans still enjoy many alternatives to the limited options available from the NBLGC, ALC and Sonco.
Online Sportsbooks
Online sportsbooks such as Sportsbook have a growing customer base in New Brunswick. Established for many years, and known for their superior customer service and the availability of a wide variety of betting options with competitive odds, the online sportsbooks represent the biggest competition to New Brunswick's paper-based sports betting offerings.
In addition, since they operate offshore, online sportsbooks can offer single-game betting options and more sophisticated and competitive live betting options not available to sports betting fans playing PRO-LINE, as well as betting lines that change in real time and are in line with major land-based sportsbooks in Las Vegas.
Major online sportsbooks like Sportsbook also provide players with a complete online casino experience and online poker rooms, which are not available from ALC or NSPLCC-licensed operators. In addition, comprehensive coverage of horse racing is offered through many online sportsbooks, with action available both at Canadian racetracks as well as major racetracks around the world.
