Bodog Ordered to Cease Online Gambling Operations in Manitoba

^{The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg, where a judge issued a ruling targeting illicit online operators in the province. (Photo: Keith Levit / Vantage)}

A Manitoba judge issued a permanent injunction on Bodog’s operations in the province Monday, a move that will force the online gambling brand to stop taking customers from the Canadian province.

Court of King’s Bench Judge Jeffrey Harris made the ruling following a request for injunction filed in February 2025 by Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.

Injunction Blocks All Advertising, Free Play Offerings in Manitoba

That injunction was filed on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, an advocacy group made up of the provincial gaming corporations in Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. 

Under the new order, Bodog’s parent companies based in Antigua and Barbuda – Il Nido Ltd. and Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. – must implement geo-blocking technology to prevent individuals from Manitoba from accessing Bodog.eu or its free play site, Bodog.net. 

Harris also ordered that Bodog stop advertising in any way towards Manitoban residents.

“The respondents’ advertising … as a legitimate, lawful, ‘safe,’ or ‘trusted online gambling site, constitutes a false description of the respondents’ goods and services that is likely to mislead the public,” Harris wrote in his ruling.

Those claims were at the heart of the application for an injunction. Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries argued that Bodog promoted itself to Manitoba residents as a legitimate operator of casino and sportsbook offerings. However, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries has exclusive authority over gambling in the province.

Lottery Coalition Hopes Ruling Will Set Nationwide Precedent

Other members of the Canadian Lottery Coalition backed the move, saying that it could use this ruling as a precedent when they fought against similar illegal gambling sites. 

“There’s really two particular goals here,” Will Hill, executive director for the coalition, said when the inunction application was filed in February. “One, securing an injunction against an illegal operator within Manitoba, but two, validating the coalition’s general position on illegal gambling more broadly.”

Before Monday’s injunction, Bodog.eu claimed it accepted players across Canada, with the exception of those in Quebec and Nova Scotia. 

According to the Canadian Lottery Coalition, sites like Bodog take money away from regulated Canadian casinos, which are designed to benefit residents.

“The provincial lottery corporations are set up to return 100 percent of their proceeds to their provinces to benefit provincial priorities,” Hill said.

The Canadian Lottery Coalition cited date from market data firm H2 Gambling Capital that showed that illegal online gambling revenues in Canada amounted to $1.86 billion in 2023, up nearly 40 percent since 2020. 

Others in Canada’s gaming industry have argued that tackling offshore sites is a key part of responsible gambling policy, since those sites typically lack tools like voluntary self-exclusion lists that are available at regulated sites.

“If we are serious about harm reduction in the realm of online gambling, we also need to be serious about enforcing bans on illegal offshore gambling,” Spencer Murch, a researcher with the University of Calgary’s psychology department, said earlier this year.