Companies placing bets on the legalization of single-sports gambling in Canada have seen their shares climb in recent weeks. The momentum comes as experts project nearly $28 billion per year eventually flowing through legal betting channels allowing wagers on individual events.

Score Media and Gaming (SCR.TO), Bragg Gaming Group (BRAG.TO), and FansUnite Entertainment (FANS.CN) shares have surged 207, 109 and 100 per cent year-to-date, respectively, as of Friday’s close.

Jeff Harris, national leader of Deloitte Canada’s sport business advisory, sees the potential expansion of sports betting in Canada as a meaningful event for investors. He expects legal reforms to spur growth beyond betting companies, with opportunities spanning the IT, telecom, media and secure payment sectors.

“We could see quite a lot of capital markets activity in the next 12 to 18 months,” he said in an interview. “We have seen some institutional capital go into the space from Canadian organizations already.”

The trio of Canadian companies are cheering the advancement of two pieces of legislation. Bill C-218 and Bill C-13 each seek to amend the Criminal Code to give provinces and territories permission to regulate online and in-person bets on the outcome of a single hockey game, for example.

Most legal sports bets in Canada must include at least two events, known as parlay wagering. Currently, horse races are the only single sporting event that can be bet on legally. The result has been an estimated $14 billion per year in wagers from Canadians going to offshore firms like Bet365.com and homegrown illegal bookmakers, according to the Canadian Gaming Association. A recent report by Deloitte Canada suggests that within five years of legalization, Canadian sports betting could grow from $500 million to nearly $28 billion in legal-market wagering.

Investors are taking notice. If Bill C-218 or Bill C-13 become law, Canada could see a replay of the investment activity that followed a 2018 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow legal sports betting. Shares of the dominant U.S. sports betting platforms, DraftKings (DKNG), FanDuel parent company Flutter (PDYPY), and Penn Gaming (PENN), majority owner of Barstool Sports, have been strong performers as a growing number of U.S. states pass laws to reform sports betting.

Last Wednesday, C-218 passed through the House of Commons with overwhelming cross-party support.

It will now be referred to the House Justice Committee, where members can suggest changes. It will then have to win another vote in the House, and make it through the Senate, before becoming law. The government-backed C-13 bill was set for debate on Friday. Both pieces of legislation are nearly identical, with C-13 including an exclusion for federally-regulated single horse races.