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The CFL Argonauts, Tiger-Cats, Eskimos and Stampeders have maintained advertising
relationships with offshore gambling agency Bowmans “despite the fact that
the league ceased to be involved with it this season,” according to Eric
Koreen of the NATIONAL POST. The CFL had a deal with Bowmans, which is based on
the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, from ’04-05, but did not renew
the agreement “when it found a better deal” with partypoker.net. The
teams could be violating Canadian law, which states it is illegal to “(commit)
an offence (that) prints, provides or offers to print or provide information intended
for use in connection with book-making.” An ad for Bowmans.com appears on
the Jumbrotron at Rogers Centre at Argos games. There is also a sign for the Web
site “in one end zone, and an advertisement on the field running from the
30- to 40-yard lines.” The Stampeders have a 10-foot-by-30-foot Bowmans
logo on their field, and the team wears a patch on its jerseys as well. Stampeders
VP/Business Development Lee Genier said, “We are not aware of any issues
regarding Internet gaming. We have requested a directive from the league, and
they are investigating it.” The other teams were unavailable for comment.
CFL Dir of Communications Perry Lefko said that no authority “ever notified
the league that the tie-in was illegal during the two-year deal.” The league
said that it “would not intervene in its clubs’ advertising relationships
unless a deal was determined to be detrimental to the league” (
NATIONAL
POST, 8/5).
