SBC Summit Barcelona included panel talk on Ontario, rest of Canada

On this final Tuesday in September, we thought it prudent to produce for our loyal readers a postmortem of sorts on SBC Summit Barcelona.

That includes a few takeaways from a panel moderated by Canadian Gaming Association president/CEO Paul Burns on the first 17 months of the regulated sports betting and igaming industry in Ontario-ari-ari-o with Bet99 CEO Jared Beber, Segev LLP founding partner Ron Segev, Entain managing director (Canada) Leon Thomas and Fitzdares head honcho William Woodhams sharing the stage.

Thanks for SBC’s Ted Orme-Claye for his coverage of the panel, which included:

·????? Thomas’s assertion that Ontario is the “most competitive marketplace in the world. You’ve got provincial lotteries, big U.S. brands, big European offshore brands, and unfortunately you still have the black market”.

·????? Segev, answering a question on the likelihood of regulated gambling coming to British Columbia, pointed to the province perhaps taking a cautious approach because of past problems with money laundering in casinos. “I think that the government is probably going to be a bit concerned about operators’ ability to, rightfully or wrongly, prevent money laundering situations, whether or not a private operator has the ability, skills or experience to run a proper AML (anti-money laundering) program,” said Segev.

·????? Woodhams and Beber both referred to the role that content plays in brand recognition in Ontario’s ultra-competitive market.

“Operators have been forced to become resourceful to get new customers,” Beber said. “We can leverage content to gain more customers. You need authentic and engaging content to reach that audience, and once you have that you can push the educational side of things.”

Added Woodhams: “Content is one way of engaging the audience and it’s really challenging because everyone’s having to rethink the market, and I wonder how many consumers change operators once they’re in the funnel.”

·????? Beber also explained the “cultural nuances” that come not only with a potential legal market in other parts of Canada, but across Ontario. “. . . how you’re ultimately going to cater and service to someone who might be living in the downtown core versus Sault Ste. Marie or Sudbury is going to be fundamentally different”.

Also, a few other items of note from the Spanish sequestering of the industry last week:

·????? Another panel discussed the ties that should bond esports, crypto and Web3.

·????? The SBC Awards celebrated their 10th anniversary with winners across 39 categories being honoured on the final night of the summit.

·????? Entrepreneur/investor/author Matthew Ball dug deep into the real meaning of the Metaverse.

·????? Some 15,000 industry types gathered at the conference, which will move to Lisbon next year.

From pre-check to withdrawal, GeoComply creates a safer, frictionless and more profitable player funnel

- Onboard more legitimate customers, fight fraud and optimize revenue

- A new approach to KYC and AML compliance with improved KYC pass rates

- No-download gold standard geolocation ensures seamless user experience

- Sophisticated machine learning assesses billions of historical transactions and fraud hotspots

Don’t lose your customers in the funnel. Visit us at G2E to find out how we can support the entire user journey

Loto-Québec reports rise in revenue for Q2

Despite an increase in spending as its bricks-and-mortar facilities return to fully functioning post-pandemic, the second-quarter financials released last week by Loto-Québec paint a rather rosy picture.

Net income for the April 1-June26 period exceeded the forecasts of La Belle Province’s lottery and gaming organization, including reported revenue of $711.2 million and consolidated net income of $380.9 milion. The casino and gaming hall sector produced $274.6 million in revenues, a 4.2-per-cent rise over the same quarter a year ago. Online casino delivered almost 25 per cent of that revenue ($68.1 million). Revenues from the gaming establishment sector ($216.9 million) dropped five per cent from the same quarter in 2022-23.

In the news release, the lottery and gaming corp also mentioned it relaunched this month its So That a Game Remains a Game campaign to promote responsible gambling. If you can “lire francais”, the full report is here.

The quarterly report results landed a day after Loto-Québec put out a communique announcing the withdrawal of its proposal to open a gaming hall at the Bell Centre. As we reported in the newsletter seven days ago, Public Health Montreal issued a study that included recommending against the gaming lounge at the home of the Montreal Canadiens.

The corp’s release included a statement from president/CEO Jean-Francois Bergeron:

“We’re convinced that revamping our land-based model would allow us to better meet today’s challenges and needs. Not doing anything does not amount to a solution. Neither does reducing supply without providing new options to meet player demand. By no means does Loto-Québec’s future rest solely on the proposed Bell Centre project, but we are disappointed that the project isn’t going through.”

“I want to thank all those involved in the project, like the public?health teams, the City of Montréal, and most importantly Groupe?CH (the owners of Les Canadiens), for their cooperation over the last two years. I commend Groupe?CH on being one of the few professional teams that refuse to do business with illegal gambling operators.”

Playtech invests further in NorthStar Gaming

There was news Friday from Ontario operator NorthStar Gaming that it had a deal with Playtech to purchase an additional $10 million of NSG shares.

In a news release, NorthStar said the proceeds “will be utilized to fund NorthStar’s expansion into the rest of Canada, following Slapshot acquisition, and for general capital purposes”. The proposed financial arrangement is expected to close by the end of next month.

NorthStar announced back in February that Playtech was joining the company as a strategic investor and advisor, and investing $12.25 million to the online sportsbook and gaming operator.

Looking ahead to the Global Gaming Expo

In case a reminder was needed that the Global Gaming Expo is just around the corner, we were welcomed into the new week yesterday morning with a plethora of posts on LinkedIn from Las Vegas-bound gambling business types putting out their available-to-meet notices.

Your (usually) congenial chronicler will be among the masses gathering at the Venetian Expo, October 9-12, for the many panels, exhibits, catch up with old friends, and hopefully meeting some new ones - and that includes Dr. Karin Schnarr, the new CEO and registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Schnarr started in her new role last week, and will moderate an all-female panel of iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton, FOGNC and Kindred Group’s Canadian country manager Amanda Brewer, PointsBet Canada compliance chief Chantal Cipriano, and Responsible Gambling Council CEO Shelley White as they lend their voices to a state-of-the-Canadian-gaming-market discussion on Oct. 9.

As Mark Keast reported in CDC Gaming Reports at the end of last week, Warren Tristram of Nuvei Technologies will speak during a payment optimization panel, and OneComply grand poobah Cameron Conn will participate in a Tech Forward: Responsible Gambling & Regulatory Compliance panel. Canadian company GeoComply will host its Vegas Challenger Series on the weekend before G2E with spots still available to attend.

And, we expect there will be many other members of the industry’s Canadian contingent present. Tickets are still available for the expo. If this is your maiden G2E adventure, we heartily recommend reading Jesse Learmonth’s survival guide.

Gaming News Canada Show a sports business edition

There are times when the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP extends beyond the issues of the day in the business of sports betting and gaming, and ventures into the business of sport.

That’s indeed the case with the most recent episode, as your humble host along with Parleh Media Group compadres Mark Silver and Gavin Roth spoke about the overdue arrival of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the financial pickle that Canopy Growth finds itself facing with its BioSteel sport drink property. We didn’t completely take our eye off the sports betting ball, as our PWHL segment addressed the opportunities for operators to support the fledgling league and ride the wave that is happening on women’s sports today.

The Company Line

This week, we give TCL attention to sports betting exchange STX.

Birthdate:?2020

Home Base:?Chicago

Founders:??Justin Deutsch, the former crypto fund owner/manager, came up with the idea of STX while he was a college student. Deutsch decided to wait until sports betting was regulated in North America before building the technology for the business.

Raison D’Etre:?STX, which was the first sports betting exchange to be licensed to operate in Ontario, offers a trading exchange on a technology stack to provide liquidity in sports wagering markets.

Gaming News Canada is looking for companies in the gaming space to be featured in this corner of the Tuesday dispatch. If interested, please [email protected].

Receive a complimentary copy of the Gaming News Canada newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.?Upgrade?to our premium subscription and unlock a multitude of curated link sections, such as?On the Home Front,?Let’s Get Together,?States Side Stories,?People on the Move,?Classified (Jobs) Information, and more.

Become a featured guest on the weekly Gaming News Canada Show?podcast.

Stay up-to-date with the latest news by following us on?LinkedIn?and?Twitter, ensuring you never miss out on breaking updates.

To discuss our coverage of your company's news and announcements and to become an advertiser in our newsletter and on the Gaming News Canada Show podcast, please email us?[email protected].