The first year of competition among online sports betting sites and internet casinos in Canada’s most populous province yielded an eye-popping amount of wagering by Ontario punters.
Figures released by government agency iGaming Ontario (iGO) on Tuesday, the first anniversary of the launch of the province’s competitive market for internet gambling, show there was around $35.6 billion in total wagering and approximately $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue generated in year one.
This, iGO said, places Ontario among the top five iGaming jurisdictions in North America. After launching 12 months ago with 12 operators, there are now more than 40 operators active in the market with more than 1.6 million active player accounts, the agency said.
"Every player who places a wager with a legal Operator is doing so in a safe, regulated, and protected environment,” iGO Executive Director Martha Otton said in a press release. “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."
Recent polling commissioned by the @Ont_AGCO and @iGamingOntario shows percentage of provincial gamblers exclusively using unregulated sites is down to ~15%. Before competitive market launched, gov't estimated ~70% of online gambling was on "grey" sites.https://t.co/LaXZyo64jQ pic.twitter.com/LSQrTvUXmt
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) April 4, 2023
The numbers for the market include Ontario sports betting, but also online casino gaming and poker. However, the figures do not include the online operations of the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., such as its sportsbook PROLINE+.
Still, polling commissioned by iGO and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), done in late February and early March, found just 14.7% of online gamblers it surveyed had wagered exclusively on unregulated sites over the past three months.
Before the new regulated market launched last year, the Ontario government had estimated around 70% of online gambling was happening with "grey" operators that might be regulated or licensed abroad or outside the province but not in Ontario. In other words, the launch of the competitive market in Ontario appears to have dealt a serious blow to the grey market.
“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,” Attorney General Doug Downey said in the release. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible, competitive online gaming model.”
