BETMGM CONFIRMS PLANS TO ENTER ONTARIO MARKET

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

Canada amended its laws governing legal sports betting in 2021. The new provisions paved the way for wagers on single events. Prior to Aug. 27 of last year, the only legal form of sports betting in Canada was limited to multi-team parlay wagers.

That change in the law suddenly changed the entire complexion of legal sports betting in the North American market. Major US-based sportsbook operators eying expansion had to reformulate their marketing plans to include opportunities north of the border.

The current sports betting system in Canada is controlled on a provincial basis through government-owned lottery corporations. Change to the current system appears to be inevitable in multiple provinces. However, for now Ontario is leading the charge.

The country’s most populated province decided to expand legal online sports betting and iGaming to commercial operators. While that entire process has encountered some unexpected twists and turns along the way, US-based operators have waited patiently in the wings.

One such operator is BetMGM, as the third-biggest sportsbook in the legal US market in terms of overall share. The product of Las Vegas casino gaming giant MGM Resorts International and UK-gaming giant Entain has quickly become known as “The King of Sportsbooks.”

BetMGM’s decision to enter the Ontario market comes as no big surprise. The company started moving in that direction once the province detailed its expansion plans.

A recent development of interest is a company press release on Jan. 19 confirming its plans in Ontario. This release was tied to a company performance and outlook update for 2022.

BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt referred to his company’s plans for expansion into the Ontario market as “incremental to value.” He also indicated that both BetMGM and bwin could launch their betting platforms in Ontario in 2022.

While there was no set time frame to go live, Greenblatt felt confident that both mobile gaming brands would be able to thrive operating independently from one another.

BetMGM has already submitted an application for a commercial sports betting license in the province. Ontario gaming officials are still working through the entire regulatory process with no firm date for launch. The targeted goal to go live with commercial operators is still set for the first quarter of this year.

It is interesting to note that Ontario borders five US states. Three of those states, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, happen to be major markets in the US for legal online sports betting.

Michigan and Pennsylvania are established markets, and New York is taking the industry by storm since launching in early January of this year.

BetMGM went live in New York with its mobile sportsbook app on Jan. 17. This launch marked the 19th US market for the BetMGM brand. Greenblatt also mentioned that expansion plans for 2022 include Illinois and Louisiana in the US along with Puerto Rico and Ontario.

Given the company’s geographic footprint in the US alone, BetMGM’s mobile sportsbook app would be available to 40% of the legal sports betting population in the country.

Written by Dave Schwab, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Dave Schwab

Dave Schwab has been covering the sports betting industry for the past 12 years as the main focus of his specialty marketing company for online content. This endeavor followed a previous career in the field of sales and marketing in the wholesaling sector.Most of his weekly pieces focus on the rapidly expanding legal US sports betting industry. However, he still does extensive work covering betting angles that can provide a competitive edge to avid players. Dave believes that it is always a challenge to take past results and current form to try and correctly determine a future result. Sports brings out the unpredictability in what should be a fairly predictable outcome based on the stats, facts and recent trends in a particular matchup. More from Dave Schwab