International Outlook: Spotlight on Canadian Sports Betting and Online Gaming 

With the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Canadian legislation, Bill C-218, The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, coming up in April, G2E sat down with Canadian gaming experts to discuss the evolution of sports betting and online gaming throughout the nation.

Canada has had legal sports betting for decades but only parlay bets were allowed. How has Bill C-218 changed the outlook for legal gaming in Canada?

Paul Burns, CEO and President, Canadian Gaming Association: Provinces now have the authority to deliver a safe, legal, and regulated sports betting option to Canadians, and to enact strong regulatory standards for responsible gaming, age and identity verification, and match fixing. Simply put, every province can choose their own way to offer legal single-event sports betting that best suits the needs of their jurisdiction.

Dan Hannigan-Daley, CEO, Sports Info Solutions: Bill C-218 (and it’s failed predecessors) were sorely needed to give legal sports betting in Canada a chance. Very few operators would have looked at the parlay requirement and put in the necessary development work to abide by those restrictions without that change, so there was effectively never a hope of turning the grey market into a white one with that blocker. Now, we have a thriving regulated market in Ontario and improved products across the nation where lotteries continue to have a legal monopoly, but a path to open competition and markets across the board exists.

Rich Roberts, President, Digital Gaming, Mohegan: Fallsview Casino Resort has embraced the change in legal sports betting. By having the first iGaming platform available in the province directly linked with the property, we have been given the opportunity to start building our 360-degree relationship with our customers.

Responsibility and protecting consumers allow bettors to engage with their favorite teams and sports in new and exciting ways. How has responsibility been integrated into go-market strategies? How can consumer protection evolve since the legalization of Bill C-218?

PB: From a consumer protection point, it’s impossible to ensure that responsible gaming tools are available when an activity is taking place in the shadows. Only by regulating single-event sports betting could we be sure that customers are protected and that benefits flow to operators and the communities in which they're generated.

Ontario’s choice to create a fully regulated market for iGaming and sports betting - which coincided with the change to the Criminal Code for sports betting – resulted in the inclusion of some of the most comprehensive responsible gaming standards in North America directly into the regulatory regime.

DHD: It has been quite interesting to witness the way different brands (specifically in Ontario) have approached their messaging to customers. Given the inability to promote sign up offers, free bets, etc. there’s been this shift towards promoting and shining light on the available responsible gaming tools. At the same time, there’s been such a prevalence of advertising the sportsbooks, with integration deeply into broadcasts and the like, more probably needs to be done to promote the available responsible gaming tools.

RR: Responsible gaming is incredibly important when coming into new and existing markets, ensuring that bettors safety is put first. iGaming Ontario has outlined the details of the Ontario Responsible regulations that PlayFallsview takes into account when going to market, including both player and operator resources. Consumer protection is already detailed in the regulations which includes self-exclusion programs.

Most of the states directly touching Canada have live, legal sports betting and online gaming. Is there anything that Canadian regulators and operators could learn/do better than established U.S. markets? Are there things that those markets could learn from Canada?

PB: Canada has a robust and entrenched grey market. The competition from offshore online operators has been here for a long time. Using Ontario as an example, the big difference is that operators who were in the past banned from advertising anything other than a “.net” website are now legally allowed to advertise across multiple channels. However – and this is important – responsible gaming is front and center as Ontario does not permit the advertising of bonuses and incentives in mass market advertising.

DHD: I think there is much to learn for both sides. Certainly in Ontario, the lighter touch has enabled more operators, more innovation, more improved product availability, etc, in turn driving spend by these operators in the province and enacting a relatively seamless change from grey to white for the majority. Undoubtedly other provinces should take note of this as the monopolistic set up within every other province, as it stands today, is only enabling the grey market to continue.

Of course, avoiding some of the missteps are also important, like the restrictions around liquidity-based products impacting fantasy sports in the province, among other challenges. It’s important for all regulatory bodies to take note of what is going on elsewhere and understand from a variety of perspectives (online and retail operators, consumers, regulators, RG advocates, etc.) what works, what doesn’t, and what should be iterated upon.

RR: The commonality for all regulated jurisdictions is that they will benefit from the increased tax revenues and job creation. Each jurisdiction has taken a regulatory approach that best fits the needs of their constituents and how they can build their market safely.

It is too early to compare the long-term outcomes in Ontario versus New York or Michigan. As the markets mature, ongoing adjustments should include the improved safety of the customer along with improvements for the operators to help achieve the revenue goals of the respective jurisdictions.

Over the past 10 months, what has been the most successful part, in your opinion, of the launch of legalized single-event sports betting in Canada? Where do you expect to see growth in 2023 and what trends are you closely following?

PB: Canadians now have more choices for sports betting, which they are clearly enjoying! We are huge sports fans in Canada and while NFL betting is big across the country, we love our hockey and basketball. The English Premier League and other European football leagues also have a strong following. The diversity in our country is also reflected in our sports betting, which will continue to grow in Canada as it is still a new product for many. Continuing to build a knowledgeable and informed player base is a focus for many operators, including lottery corporations, in 2023.

DHD: Undoubtedly the launch of the Ontario regulated market and the relatively smooth transition of a vast grey market to a regulated, healthy, innovative market with consumer protection and choice prevailing. In 2023, I would anticipate growth by other provinces following Ontario’s lead, bringing about a plethora of regulated operators to consumers, driving value across the media landscape in those jurisdictions, and moving markets away from tax free grey market operations.

RR: For Fallsview Casino and PlayFallsview, we’re focused on giving our customers the opportunity to engage in the Fallsview Casino experience when they leave the property. We are excited about the online and on-property programs and activations that will give our guests new entertainment options. The next growth opportunity is the integration of our Momentum Rewards program into our PlayFallsview digital products.

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“International Outlook” is a new series from the G2E Insider focused on trending topics and insights from gaming markets around the world. If you have recommendations of regions to focus on, please email our content manager Amar Batra at [email protected].