TORONTO — In just a year, it seems Ontario has established itself as one of North America’s top igaming jurisdictions.
iGaming Ontario (iGo) announced Tuesday — the fledgling market’s first anniversary — the province delivered “about $35.6 billion in total wagers and approximately $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue.” iGo added that places Ontario among North America’s top-five igaming jurisdictions, although exactly where and with what other centres weren’t divulged.
“Ontario’s igaming market has displaced the pre-existing unregulated market and made Ontario a recognized leader internationally in this industry since its launch in April 2022,” said Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible, competitive online gaming model.”
Last April, Ontario became the first Canadian province to launch an open, regulated igaming market.
Since then, iGo said there’ve been over 1.6 million active player accounts on websites run by more than 40 operators that have agreements with iGaming Ontario.
Some of the notable trends over the last year listed by iGo include:
– On average, the monthly spend per active player account over the past year was about $70.
– According to an Ipsos survey conducted last month and released Tuesday by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), about 85 per cent of respondents who gambled online in the province over the past three months did so on regulated sites.
– Basketball was the most popular sport for bettors (28 per cent), followed by soccer (15 per cent), football (14 per cent), hockey (nine per cent) and baseball (eight per cent).
– Nearly half (48 per cent) of all casino wagers were on slots. Thirty-two per cent were on table games with a live dealer and the remainder (19 per cent) on computer-based table games.
According to the AGCO, there are currently 45 operators live in Ontario and it has approved over 5,000 certified games for use in the province.
“A key objective in this first year has been to move Ontario players from playing on unregulated sites to the regulated market, so that they would benefit from high standards of operator and game integrity, fairness and player protections including responsible gambling standards,” said AGCO CEO/registrar Tom Mungham. “Although there’s still much work to be done, we’re pleased to see such a substantial shift toward gaming on regulated sites so far, and everything that it represents for players and for the province.”
Added iGo board chair Dave Forestell: “(Tuesday’s) numbers demonstrate that Ontario has one of the best online gaming markets in the world. Since Ontario opened the market we have seen new investment, job creation, and captured revenue that used to leave the province. Ontario is well on its way to becoming the best gaming jurisdiction in the world.”
iGaming Ontario (iGo) is a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). It conducts and manages internet gaming in the province.
iGo also stated the numbers in its report were unaudited and subject to adjustment.
Tuesday’s release was a nice change, given figures from the opening three quarters came weeks, sometimes months after the fact. However, again there was no breakdown or information provided regarding exactly where the sports-betting revenue is being earmarked.
There was also no breakdown regarding exact fourth-quarter numbers. That’s significant considering when Ontario’s open market launched in 2022, it was following the Super Bowl and on the final day of March Madness, which are the two most popular sports-betting events.
But as of Dec. 31, 2022, the industry had gone over $21.6 billion in total wagers over the first three quarters, with total gaming revenue being $886 million.
Based on those figures, the Ontario market seemingly had a $14-billion handle and generated $514 million in revenue over the fourth quarter. That would be increases of 244 per cent from the first-quarter handle ($4.067 billion) and 217 per cent more than the first-quarter revenue ($162 million).
What’s more, the handle increased 21 per cent from the third quarter ($11.53 billion) and revenues went up 12.5 per cent ($457 million). The overall number of active player accounts (1.6 million) more than tripled over the first quarter (492,000) and player accounts increased substantially from the third quarter (910,000).
The iGo report doesn’t include revenue from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp’s online operations.
“Every player who places a wager with a legal Operator is doing so in a safe, regulated, and protected environment,” said iGo executive director Martha Otton. “I want to thank the players, our 40+ operators and our government partners for placing their trust in us.
“Together we can help this market continue its strong performance.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2023.
