Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) has filed an injunction application to prevent unlicensed gambling site Bodog from operating in the province.

The application, filed with the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC), is seeking a court order to ban the Caribbean-based operator from doing business or advertising its services in Manitoba.

The application, made available to Canadian Gaming Business, is dated Jan. 28, 2025 and names Bodog operator Il Nido Ltd. and its Canadian trademark owner Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. as defendants. Bodog shares a history of operational ties with Bovada, which has been the subject of numerous cease-and-desist letters from U.S. state regulators.

A Manitoba court date is currently scheduled for March 5, 2025.

Bodog ‘false and misleading,’ says coalition

The injunction application alleges that the real-money bodog.eu and “free play” bodog.net platforms are breaking laws by violating MBLL’s authority over gambling. MBLL’s PlayNow.com is the sole platform authorized by provincial law to offer online gaming in the province.

In the text of the filing, the lotteries accuse Bodog of “false and misleading” advertising by marketing itself as a “trusted” online gaming operator across Canada, and asserts that Bodog’s solicitation of Manitoban customers is “illegal.” It also states that the “sole purpose” of the free-play version of the site is to direct players to the real-money gambling site.

The application adds that, in the CLC’s eyes, Bodog’s continued operation in Manitoba causes real harm to MBLL by threatening its business and revenues.

The CLC alleges that the operator is in violation of the federal Criminal Code, Trademarks Act and Competition Act, as well as three pieces of provincial legislation. It also writes that the coalition contacted Bodog in both February and June of 2023 demanding that it block Manitoba users, but that the operator “has refused to cease its illegal operations in Manitoba.”

First-of-its-kind action by CLC

CLC membership includes the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and Loto-Québec in addition to MBLL.

The CLC’s Executive Director Will Hill told CGB that this injunction is the first of its kind from either MBLL or the coalition. He noted that the CLC and its members “remain committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means.”

“It fits within a broader set of activities undertaken since the coalition was first formed, always with the same overarching goals in mind: namely, to curtail illegal online gambling across Canada, to create a safer online gaming landscape for Canadians and to protect Canadians against the wide array of illegal sites that operate with no federal or provincial regulatory oversight and aren’t bound by anti-money laundering legislation,” Hill added.

Hill reaffirmed that the CLC “is committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means on a pan-national basis.”

Bodog disappeared from Nova Scotia last fall

Bodog.eu’s website says it “accepts players from all across Canada, except for those residing in the province[s] of Quebec and Nova Scotia.”

Despite implying that it offers its wares in Ontario, Bodog does not have a license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to operate in Canada’s only regulated commercial online gaming market. CGB also reached out to the AGCO as well as other non-CLC member lotteries for comment.

As alluded to by its own website, the Antigua and Barbuda-based brand has been dark in Quebec for several years and last September, it quietly took itself offline in Nova Scotia, where the only licensed online gaming offerings are provided by the multi-provincial ALC.

Hill added that the CLC was encouraged by Bodog blocking access in Nova Scotia. “That story is not unique to Atlantic Canada, which is why the CLC is committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means on a pan-national basis,” he concluded.

CGB also reached out to Bodog seeking comment for this story but had not received a response at the time of writing.