POINTSBET CANADA BECOMES THE OFFICIAL SPORTS BETTING PARTNER OF CURLING CANADA

Already a major sports betting company in the United States, PointsBet is making key moves in Canada. PointsBet has entered into an exciting partnership in the country. The PointsBet Sportsbook will now be Curling Canada’s official sports betting partner.

This is a significant partnership for the company in Canada. With a population of around 38 million people, over 13 million people watch Curling Canada events every season in the country. And, executives in the company are hopeful that the partnership could help bring in bettors to the newly expanded Canada sports betting marketplace.

The executives felt that it was paramount for PointsBet Canada to form partnerships with organizations that have deep roots in Canada. They are hopeful that the partnership will support community-based sports as well as attract curling fans to the sports betting site.

The exclusive deal between PointsBet and Curling Canada gives the sports betting operator the exclusive rights to act as the governing body’s official online casino and official sportsbook. Curling Canada has over three hundred broadcast hours as well as three hundred and fifty repeat hours annually. The PointsBet Canada Sportsbook has also secured title rights to the Curling Canada Seasons of Champions event.

The CEO of Curling Canada, Katherine Henderson, was excited by the passing of expanded legal sports betting in Canada over the summer. She had a feeling that new opportunities would arise as a result for curling in the legal Canadian sports betting world.

She is also excited about this new partnership, in particular because of PointsBet's proven track record in the sports betting world. She is eager to see what new opportunities this partnership will bring to the sport in Canada.

Typically, American audiences tend to only become interested in curling around the Winter Olympics. But, Canadians are different in that the sport is quite popular most of the time. It’s not surprising then that over 90% of the curlers in the world come from the country. In fact, Canada is actually ranked first internationally in women’s, men’s and wheelchair curling.

Team Canada has won 34 gold medals in the Men’s World Championships as well as 15 gold medals in the Women’s World Championships. According to a study from the University of Waterloo from 2015, almost 5% of the population of the country curls. PointsBet is in a good position to conquer a decent portion of the Canadian sports betting market. This is especially true for the Ontario sports betting market for PointsBet.

PointsBet Canada has an impressive executive team including a former Rogers executive. And, the team also includes a former president of Monkey Knife Fight, a daily fantasy sports company, Nic Sulsky. In addition, last month PointsBet made big moves in the hockey sports betting market when it announced its partnership with The Nation Network and DailyFaceoff.com, a group of sports media sites in Canada.

The PointsBet Canada Chief Commercial Officer, Nic Sulsky, stated that the company is looking to form a connection with Canadian sports fans. He hopes the dedicated fans of The Nation Network and the Daily Faceoff will help with that goal. The company hopes to be able to integrate their product, vision, and mentality with that of their new partners’.

In Canada, commercial operators for sports betting are not legally up and running just yet. It is expected that Ontario sports betting will be launching their regulated and open market some time this year. This past summer, on August 27th, the Canadian government granted provinces the ability to regulate single-event betting as well as various provincial lotteries.

Some sports betting operators, such as BetMGM, have been focusing on hockey when it comes to Canada. The company signed deals with Wayne Gretzky and The Hockey News. Canlan Sports, a company that owns hockey arenas throughout North America, announced a deal with theScore. The Toronto-based company is looking to find an in in the adult recreational hockey world in Canada.

As of right now, when it comes to Ontario sports betting, sports betting fans have tended to flock to NFL betting. Sports betting stalwart DraftKings was able to make a successful push into the Canadian market by expanding its daily fantasy sports deal.

Written by our US sports betting industry expert, Allie Nelson. You can learn more about Allie's expertise here.