The last time the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Western Mustangs faced off in the Vanier Cup — the national championship of university football in Canada — it was an absolute barnburner.
On Nov. 19, 1994, the two teams took the field at what was then known as the SkyDome in Toronto with nearly 29,000 fans present. The game ricocheted from an early Saskatchewan touchdown, to a big Western lead, to a crazy Huskies comeback, putting U of S ahead 37-34 with just 1:04 left on the clock.
Somehow, the London, Ont.-based Mustangs managed to get a tying field goal through the uprights with just four seconds left in the game, sending the Vanier to its first-ever overtime. There, Western would ultimately prevail 50-40 after a 77-yard punt return touchdown.
“The match-up turned out to be the most exciting game played in the country in 1994,” a U SPORTS recap of the game says.
An ending like that could cause even the steadiest sports bettor to sweat. Technically, though, there were no sportsbooks in the country at the time that were legally allowed to take bets from Canadians on just that game.
But on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in Quebec City, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Western Ontario's football teams will again square off in the Vanier Cup, the 56th edition of the championship event. And this time around, there is the potential for far more action on the game — perhaps the most there has ever been.
A new era
There are two main reasons for a possible increase in Vanier Cup-related wagering: online sportsbooks and the passage of legislation in Canada earlier this year that allows provinces and territories to conduct and manage single-game sports betting. This year's Vanier is indeed the first since federal lawmakers authorized single-event wagering, which some sportsbook operators are now offering for the championship game.
Those betting opportunities could increase the game's handle and help stoke interest in Canadian university football, a sport that is nowhere near as popular with punters as U.S. college football.
Saturday's Vanier Cup will also be televised and streamed by the CBC, the national broadcaster. It's a step up from 2020, when the Vanier was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To recap: Western went 5-1 in the 2021 regular season and won three straight Ontario playoff games. The Mustangs then waltzed through their national semifinal match against the Atlantic Canada-representing St. Francis Xavier X-Men last week, winning 61-6.
Saskatchewan finished 5-1 as well in the regular season. The Huskies then knocked off two Western Canadian rivals in the playoffs and scored a last-second touchdown to defeat the Université de Montréal Carabins 14-10, sending U of S to the national championship game.
????Preview: @Scotiabank Vanier Cup, presented by @Levioconseils.
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) November 30, 2021
Aperçu : Coupe Vanier @Scotiabank, présentée par @Levioconseils.
????EN: https://t.co/3kz6qjxZn0 ????FR: https://t.co/sz00jus8SU#ChaseTheGlory | #ViserHaut pic.twitter.com/O5HJILfLRw
Now, there are purple-leaning lines available online for Saturday's game. That's a major change compared to the 1994 Vanier, when internet adoption wasn't quite what it is today.
For example, as of around noon on Friday, Sports Interaction had Western installed as 6.5-point favorites at -110 odds (in other words, you’d need to bet $110 to win $100 if the Mustangs cover the spread). The book's Over/Under total for the game sat at 48.5 points.
Coolbet, meanwhile, had Western at -6.5 as well, but the total for the game was 42.5.
Sports Interaction is licensed and regulated by the Jersey Gambling Commission and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, the latter of which is located on the First Nations territory of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke, just south of Montreal. The Mohawk also own the bookmaker.
Coolbet is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority.
Provincial preferences
If Canadian bettors want to get down a wager on the Vanier at a provincially regulated sportsbook, it will depend on where they live and if the government-owned operator there plans to offer odds.
British Columbia Lottery Corp. (BCLC) is taking bets on the game via its PlayNow.com website, which is available in Manitoba as well. As of Friday morning, PlayNow had Western as 6.5-point favorites for the Vanier at -110 odds. The site's total for the game was 48.5 points.
“While we don’t traditionally offer betting markets on regular Canadian university football games throughout the year, there is increased player interest for the Vanier Cup – which we have offered bets on in the past,” said Matt Lee, a spokesperson for BCLC, in an email.
In the past, though, BCLC's Vanier bets had to be part of a parlay, as single-event wagering was not yet legalized, Lee noted. This year singles are available in B.C. and Manitoba via PlayNow.com.
Atlantic Lottery Corp. is offering several betting markets for the Vanier Cup on its website. Single-event wagering is available in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, spokesperson Greg Weston said in an email.
However, not every book has jumped at the opportunity to offer Vanier Cup lines.
In Western’s home province, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) has never offered wagering on Canadian college sports through its PROLINE products, including its online sportsbook PROLINE+. As of Friday morning, that was still the case.
Something similar goes for Western Canada Lottery Corp. The non-profit offers single-game sports betting through its SPORT SELECT game, which is available at lottery retailers in the Huskies’ home province of Saskatchewan. No other single-game betting options have been authorized and launched in the province as of yet.
SPORT SELECT is also available in Alberta, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
“Historically wagering on any Canadian university-level sporting events isn’t something we’ve offered, because we just haven’t seen the demand for it from our players,” WCLC spokesperson John Towns said in an email. “As SPORT SELECT continues to evolve, that may change in the future if we start to see enough players express interest in betting on Canadian collegiate athletics, but for now it isn’t something we offer.”
56th Vanier Cup takes place Saturday at 1pmET ????
— Sports Interaction (@SIASport) December 3, 2021
Stade Telus, Quebec City #USports
Saskatchewan Huskies vs. Western Mustangs https://t.co/GQ7sJrZGyp pic.twitter.com/i5OSNUTBFY
Likewise, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis says it is not offering odds on the 2021 Vanier Cup game at its Play Alberta sportsbook.
"We will continue to evaluate the sports betting markets and consider adding new opportunities for PlayAlberta.ca players in the future," spokesperson Karin Campbell said in an email.
Loto-Québec, which offers single-game sports betting online through its Mise-o-jeu+ mobile app and website, does not offer any wagering options on “local amateur sports,” a spokesperson told Covers.
“Therefore, we don’t offer bets regarding the upcoming Vanier Cup,” Renaud Dugas said in an email.
While no Canadian lottery has said as much publicly, in the U.S., some states have restricted betting on local college teams partly due to concerns about the possibility of match-fixing. Those concerns may have eased a bit now that college athletes in the U.S. are signing potentially lucrative name, image, and likeness deals, but some states still have the bans in place.
The worries about the potential for fixed games did loom over the debate around legalizing single-game sports betting in Canada. Yet legalization was pitched as a way to help detect such issues, by bringing the betting activity into Canadian-regulated channels. Ultimately, Bill C-218, the single-game wagering legislation, was passed by both the House of Commons and Senate.
Test case
There could be more options for betting Canadian university football in the not-too-distant future in the country's most populous province.
Ontario is planning to launch a competitive market for internet casino gambling and online sports betting that would permit private-sector operators to register with a regulator and to legally take wagers in the province.
There are rules around what sort of games could be bet on in the iGaming market, such as supervision from a governing body that “must, at minimum, prescribe final rules and [enforce] codes of conduct that include prohibitions on betting by insiders.”
The province's iGaming market isn't expected to launch until the first quarter of 2022. But if those safeguards are all there, they could allow a variety of online sportsbook operators in Ontario — not just OLG — to take bets on Canadian university football games in time for next year’s Vanier.
“Sportsbook operators will need to make sure that each event meets the betting criteria laid out in the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming including ensuring the majority of participants are 18 years of age or older and that the proper integrity safeguards are in place,” the communications team for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario told Covers in an email. “If the league or event meets the criteria, including eligible amateur sports, then betting will be permitted.”
