Q & Eh: Woodbine Entertainment's Jim Lawson

For Jim Lawson, the past month has been the classic case of winning a battle, but still engaged in a war. Two weeks ago, the CEO and the staff at Woodbine Entertainment - along with the 50,000-plus women and men employed by the Canadian horse racing industry - celebrated an amendment to Bill C-218 that provided the industry with protection when single-event betting eventually gets the green light.

This week, however, with nine days remaining until the start of its scheduled thoroughbred racing season following a five-month break, Woodbine will be among the affected industries by the latest COVID-19 measure across Ontario.

Because The Parleh prefers to look at the proverbial glass as half-full (a fine Cabernet or stout will suffice, thank you), we’re going to keep our eye this week on the ball that is legal sports wagering. Lawson recorded an interview a few weeks ago with our Mark Silver for a future edition of The Backstage Project podcast and explained why he’s bullish on (legal) betting and Woodbine’s future involvement in it.

Q: Is Woodbine ready for a legal betting world in Canada?

Lawson: Yes, and the reason we are is because we are (already) a heavily regulated company, and we’re the only private legal single-event betting company in the country today. We’ve managed it, we’ve operated it, we work well with the regulators (at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario). We have a total infrastructure including a very robust technology system to manage all of this that will give a potential partner a real leg up with Woodbine.

We may have four of the top 10 sites in the country for potential sportsbooks. We have over 60 off-track wagering locations that could also be transformed into sportsbooks. It’s an exciting time for Woodbine to play in this industry.

Q: How has technology played a role in attracting younger sports fans to the sport.

Lawson: (Five-six years ago), we were challenged as the government reduced and cut off programming slots at racetracks. It was a wakeup call that we have to be better and we have to find better ways. We made a decided turn to recruit a number of talented technology and innovation people, and really turned focus to our HPI (bet) system and our broadcasting system. (Today), we have 64 people in our broadcasting department and 75-80% of wagering is done over the HIP internet system. We’re very proud of that, as our handle is $1.6 billion in wagering a year.

Q: How has that investment in technology helped your business during COVID?

Lawson: By the time (last) fall rolled around, we had converted enough (people to online betting) even though we didn’t have people at the racetrack or at off-track places (because of the pandemic).

We worked with Ryerson University and started a course to come up with technological ideas. That led to an app we developed over 3-4 years called Dark Horse. You can stream races on your phone and it uses artificial intelligence to help wagerers, especially that new demographic that doesn’t have time or the interest in racing the racing forum or past performance charts.

Q: How much can Canadian media and sports properties benefit from a legalized sports betting system?

Lawson: There’s a real opportunity for the sports companies and certainly the broadcasting and media companies in this space. They are marketing powerhouses. In sports marketing and advertising, it’s going to be a big winner. OLG is a major customer of Bell and Rogers, and spends a lot of media dollars. Now they’ll spend even more.

I would think there’s also an opportunity like we’ve seen in the States with ESPN and Caesar’s and William Hill, NBC teaming up with PointsBet, and Fox is getting into it. You can imagine the day where there’s a sports desk by one of major (TV) networks and looking at selling their brand.

We’ll be sure to let you know when the podcast with Lawson drops.