Ontario's regulated gambling industry turns 2
Nothing like celebrating something by tinkling the ivories, and with regards to your friendly neighbourhood gambling industry correspondent, tinkling the keyboard once again.
We do so on this Thursday, April 4th, which marks the second anniversary of the opening of Ontario’s regulated sports betting and online gaming marketplace. This morning, 47 operators (along with OLG) are doing business in the province by providing gambling types with 70something sports wagering and gaming websites.
For those licensed operators, there was good news this morning courtesy of a study commissioned by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario that more people are wagering and playing on regulated websites.
From the IPSOS study :
Doug Downey, the province’s Attorney General and member of the Douglas Ford government which is responsible for giving the green light to Canada’s first competitive gambling business - and one of the largest regulated marketplaces in the world - had this to say/state:
“Since its launch in April 2022, Ontario’s igaming model has been recognized internationally for championing work to displace the unregulated online gaming market,” said Attorney General Doug Downey. “This made-in-Ontario, regulated market will continue to inspire global innovation, while ensuring a safer landscape for players and businesses?alike.”
iGaming Ontario, which has (slowly) unveiled more data on the market, provided an “unaudited” breakdown of the sports betting and igaming businesses in its own communique this morning, including:
Also from the iGO release:
At more than $1.5 billion in total wagering this year, peer-to-peer poker may be the smallest of iGaming Ontario operators’ three major igaming segments but the five operators offering online peer-to-peer poker in the province have combined to make Ontario the largest ring-fenced online poker market by gaming revenue in North America, which is testament to the strong interest Ontarians have in the game.
Earlier this week we brought together journalists Jessica Welman (SBC Americas, Canadian Gaming Business), Geoff Zochodne (Covers.com ) and Dave Briggs (Catena Media, Play Canada) in the Gaming News Canada Show virtual studio to provide their thoughts on 24 months of regulated gambling, and what’s to come in Year 3.
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Some of the early reaction to the second anniversary this morning included this statement from PointsBet Canada grand poobah Scott Vanderwel:
“Today marks two years since the launch of Ontario's sports wagering market, and we at PointsBet are incredibly proud to have been part of this historic journey. With our commitment to innovation and integrity, we've delivered an unparalleled iGaming experience to Ontarians, fueled by cutting-edge technology and personalized support that prioritizes responsible gambling best practices. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Premier Ford, Attorney General Downey, Minister Bethlenfalvy, and iGaming Ontario for their visionary leadership in continuously implementing a robust and regulated framework. As we celebrate this milestone, we remain dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation and helping shape the future of iGaming in Ontario."
Paysafe posted an article on its website this morning about the payments habits of customers in Ontario. From the article:
Whether operators are looking to extend CLVs and conversion rates for their Ontario sportsbook or are engaged in product development in anticipation of Alberta’s launch, it’s vital that they get payments right. Canadian sportsbooks with a robust cashier that fields a comprehensive range of payment methods, while supporting seamless deposits and payouts, will stand the test of time – not just for the next 12 months, but for years to come.?
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Semi Retired at None
7 个月Here in B.C. our own Lottery Corporation seems quite willing to exploit some consumers’ obsessive-compulsive and addictive tendencies. ? As for BCLC’s token offers of gambling-addiction withdrawal counselling services as well as their ads’ quite insufficient?“Know your limit, play within it”?and/or?“If you gamble, use your GameSense … 19+” — it hardly suffices for the significant and often irreparable financial damage done to addicts and their families. ? Also playing a significant role in this unfortunate social issue is that BCLC is one of the largest, if not the largest, advertiser with Greater Vancouver’s metro-daily newspapers. There'd be full front-and-back jacket ads purchased by the lottery corporation whenever a large jackpot was accumulating, and almost always those lottery-ad-jacketed issues came out in the well-read weekend editions. ? Indeed, it’s hardly a plausible coincidence that a reader won’t see printed in the editorial content anything critical of BCLC ethical conduct. ... ? Exceptionally discreditable BCLC conduct involved the self-serving “jackpot disentitlement rule” aspect of the formal “voluntary exclusion [request]” which falls under the Gaming Control Act. ....