An Ontario agency has further fleshed out the workings of the province’s coming market for internet-based sports betting and casino gambling, including how to handle visiting players and "pre-existing" punters.
The added details about the competitive market were recently published by iGaming Ontario, the government agency under whose umbrella a number of online sportsbooks will start legally taking bets in the province on April 4.
For example, iGaming Ontario says visitors will be able to place a bet on one of the websites monitored by the agency so long as players are at least 19 and physically located in the province. Customers could also fund their accounts from abroad.
“A player’s residency status is not a factor in whether they can play on websites offered by registered and authorized Operators,” an FAQ on iGaming Ontario's site says. “The requirement is that players must physically be in Ontario to play legally. Regardless of the above, players can register and manage their account (e.g. deposit or withdraw funds) while physically outside of Ontario.”
Visitors to Ontario will still need to meet the requirements for registration if they want to gamble at a provincially regulated website, iGaming Ontario said in an email to Covers. Operators will have to verify a player's identity, among other things.
Look for the iGaming Ontario logo! Every registered and fully authorized #internetgaming website in Ontario will have the iGO logo displayed. It means that the website operations are carefully monitored by iGO and regulated by the @Ont_AGCO. Learn more: https://t.co/adZiIdBIxt pic.twitter.com/dQO1l8JK8E
— iGaming Ontario (@iGamingOntario) March 21, 2022
Yet Ontario's new iGaming market will be a big change from the status quo.
Currently, the only legal source of online sports betting in the province is the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. However, starting on April 4, companies that have completed the province's licensing process could start taking bets in the new regulatory framework.
In the meantime, another subject recently addressed by iGaming Ontario is bets placed by “pre-existing" players. Operators will have to settle any wagers that customers in the province have already made with them before they can start taking action in the new iGaming market.
"Players must create a new digital wallet with an operator’s website under the regulated market terms and conditions to continue playing on that site," iGaming Ontario told Covers. "Operators may provide pre-existing players with access to their pre-existing player account after going live in the new market for the purpose of account management, including withdrawing funds."
This could affect customers sitting on a futures bet at a grey-market book, which may now need to be voided if the operator intends to enter Ontario's regulated market. However, one of Ontario's goals is to capture some of the wagering dollars currently flowing to out-of-province and offshore websites (approximately $700 million a year, according to one estimate cited by the government). Refunding bets could be part of the cost of doing now-regulated business.
And a few changes were always likely. After all, Ontario is launching a first-of-its-kind market for Canada, where essentially all legal online sports betting and internet casino gambling has thus far had to flow through government-owned entities.
The province's concept has drawn interest from European and North American gambling companies, with 16 internet gaming operators approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) as of Tuesday morning:
- Annexio (LottoGo)
- BetMGM
- Coolbet
- FanDuel Ontario
- Fitzdares
- bet365
- LeoVegas
- WSOP
- Ontario Lottery and Gaming
- PointsBet
- Rivalry
- Royal Panda
- Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers Ontario)
- theScore
- Unibet
- 888
These "registered" operators may need to satisfy other regulatory conditions and will have to execute an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario before they can legally go live. Nevertheless, the registrations issued by the AGCO mean those operators could potentially launch in Ontario on the first day of the iGaming market.
More operators are expected, as the AGCO previously told Covers that 30 had applied for registration. The website for iGaming Ontario also states that operators should expect the process of AGCO registration and executing an operating agreement to take at least 90 days.
Other recently published details from iGO include that there is no requirement for operators to have their businesses established in Canada and no requirement to offer websites in French (one of Canada’s official languages). Additionally, operators must obtain the Responsible Gambling Council’s RG Check accreditation within two years of the date of their operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.
Registered operators are adjusting their businesses to meet Ontario’s expectations. Unibet, for instance, has warned Ontario customers being transitioned into the new market that “any pending bets will be closed and funds issued to wallet prior to your account migration.”
