ONTARIO SPORTS BETTING COMMERCIAL MARKET FACES A DELAY FOR LAUNCH UNTIL 2022

Ontario sports betting has been highly anticipated ever since Canada sports betting single-game wagerers was legalized. However, it now appears that sports betting in Ontario may not be launching for at least three months. This is due to regulators needing the time to hammer out the details.

As of now, commercial operators are looking at a launch in Ontario at around the middle of February or early March. The chief strategy officer for Bragg Gaming, an Ontario-based company, expects the commercial Ontario sports betting market to launch before the end of the first quarter of 2022. Currently, the Ontario sports betting market only consists of the lottery-run ProLine+ and no commercial online sportsbooks.

The timeline for the launch of commercial operators in the province had been set for late 2021, but now that has been delayed. At this time, AGCO and iGaming Ontario are looking to launch an open and competitive iGaming market as soon as possible.

There appear to be two main issues that have delayed the launch of commercial Ontario sports betting. There have been obstacles in bringing into the regulated market some gray-market operators who have taken advantage of the opening.

These problems include figuring out how operators handle open futures if they need to re-register customers. Re-registration is a likely occurrence because the regulated market needs a higher level of KYC.

There have also been difficulties when figuring out the commercial structure. The law for Canada sports betting requires provinces to manage and conduct sports betting. So, to meet the requirements, operators need to form a joint venture with iGO.

With that structure, revenue for operators will be directed into a shared account. Then, the share for the province is taken out and cash is sent back to the operator. This is complicating the structure as it is.

Plus, other small details also need to be figured out before the launch. This includes privacy and personal data.

Regulated sportsbooks are being hurt by the delay. A launch date of early spring is not ideal for the commercial sportsbook operators. This launch date would cause them to miss out on all of the CFL betting and NFL betting for the season. At this time, regulated sportsbooks are losing potential revenue to gray-market rivals who have been able to operate in this opening.

The longer Ontario takes to launch commercial sportsbooks, the more legal and regulated sportsbooks are hurt. The regulators are looking to handle this complicated situation as fast and best they can.

The Ontario sports betting market is an especially coveted one for commercial sportsbook operators. The market in the province is expected to be quite large. With a population of almost fifteen million people, this would make Ontario the fifth-largest US state.

In fact, an Eilers & Krejcik report has estimated that Ontario sports betting could bring in up to CAD $570 million in revenue next year. The largest city in Ontario, Toronto, is a huge sports hub for North American sports, including teams in the NBA, MLS, MLB, and NHL plus the CFL. Ontario also has an NHL and CFL team in Ottawa. Plus, Hamilton has a CFL team as well.

In the province, competition can also be beneficial to consumers because of competitive pricing. This has been an early issue with the lottery based offering in Alberta.

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