Another year just passed, a good time to reflect on the igaming year that was. Here are some of the highlights of 2024, as we enter 2025.
Industry retirements
In August it was announced that one of the prominent people behind the launch of Ontario’s regulated igaming market in 2022 was retiring from her post. iGaming Ontario announced that Executive Director Martha Otton would be stepping away after nearly four years as the inaugural chief executive as of the end of December. It was later announced she would stay on through March 2025, as iGO seeks a replacement.
In June, just after the Canadian Gaming Summit, it was announced that Shelley White was retiring from her position as CEO of the Responsible Gambling Council.
Igaming in Alberta
It became official at the Summit in Toronto in June: a new, regulated, open, Ontario-style, igaming market for Alberta was a question of when, not if, after a speech by Dale Nally, Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction, Province of Alberta. Operators like PointsBet Canada, Betway, PENN, and NorthStar have already said they will jump in once the market there launches. The launch is expected to be mid 2025.
Aristocrat and IGT jump into the Quebec market
Aristocrat announced a deal with Loto-Québec in January to distribute their video lottery terminals in the Quebec market starting in the summer. Later that week, Loto-Québec announced a deal with IGT to deliver PeakDual 27 Video Lottery Terminals across Quebec through a multi-phased rollout.
BCLC recognized for excellence in player health
In January, it was announced that BCLC was being recognized for excellence in player health, awarded the World Lottery Association’s Level 4 certification, the fifth consecutive time the organization had received the recognition. A Level 4 is the highest level granted by the WLA’s Independent Assessment Panel for excellence in player health programming.
Levys leave Penn
The first day of February, we heard the stunning news that the founding family behind theScore, John Levy, Benjie Levy, Aubrey Levy, and Noah Levy, would be stepping down from their roles at PENN Interactive. PENN Entertainment Inc. owns the igaming brand.
New AGCO ad standards make their debut
In February, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) released guidance for the industry regarding its revised advertising standards, prohibiting the use of athletes in internet gaming advertising and marketing in Ontario.
Standards were strengthened to restrict the use of celebrities “who would likely be expected to appeal to minors,” the AGCO said in a statement. Operators shall not “Use active or retired athletes, who have an agreement or arrangement made directly or indirectly between an athlete and an operator or gaming-related supplier, in advertising and marketing except for the exclusive purpose of advocating for responsible gambling practices.”
The new restrictions came into effect Feb. 28.
Casino Toronto hosts first-ever WSOP in Canada
It was announced in February that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) had added Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto as host of its first ever international circuit event in the city. The event, in cooperation with GG Poker, took place March 22-April 1.
WSOP is a series of live poker tournaments held in Las Vegas. WSOP also offers online poker. The WSOP Circuit takes them to locations around the U.S., where the international circuit takes them to Brazil, England, France, Holland, and Canada.
PWHL does deal with FanDuel
In November, FanDuel announced a new partnership with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, becoming an Official Sportsbook Partner and exclusive In-app Streaming Partner in the U.S. FanDuel will stream up to 90 regular season PWHL games and playoffs live on the FanDuel app.
National poll on sports betting
In March, according to a poll, most Canadians were looking for significant changes in sports betting advertising. Seven in ten, or 68%, wanted current team players and celebrities banned from sports betting ads, according to a Maru Public Opinion survey. Canadians were also looking for less ads during live sports games/events – two thirds, or 66%, say commercials should not be allowed during those times. A majority, 59%, think a nationwide ban on sports betting ads needed to be implemented right away.
The survey was conducted in February among a random selection of 1,534 Canadian adults who are part of Maru Voice Canada, an online market research community.
AGCO anniversary poll on player participation
To mark the two-year anniversary of the Ontario private igaming market in April, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, along with iGaming Ontario, released a IPSOS study showing that 86.4% of players in Ontario were now participating in igaming on regulated sites (over the preceding three months when they were asked).
The AGCO said in a news release that an estimated 70% of online gambling occurred on unregulated sites before the regulated market was launched.
The IPSOS study was conducted in February 2024. This represented an increase from the 85.3% of igaming participants who reported playing on regulated sites in a similar study conducted in 2023.
Sulsky leaves PointsBet Canada
In April, it was announced that Nic Sulsky was leaving his role as PointsBet Canada’s chief commercial officer to become CEO of The Curling Group, which in turn announced it reached an agreement with Sportsnet to assume ownership and operations of the Grand Slam of Curling after the conclusion of this season.
IGT does deal with Atlantic Lottery
In May, it was announced that IGT’s subsidiary, IGT Global Solutions Corp., had signed a five-year agreement with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation to provide new games for players in Atlantic Canada.
IGT is going to be deploying its cloud-based remote game server (RGS) and 16 digital instant games per year. The RGS component to the new partnership is going to allow Atlantic Lottery to instantly access IGT’s portfolio of games and content: progressive jackpot games, player-favorite themes, omnichannel games, and other popular licensed product.
Mohegan reports highest quarterly net revenue
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority in May reported its second-quarter fiscal-2024 operating results (ended March 31), the highest quarterly net revenue ($461.7 million) in their history, up 13.8% year over year.
Ontario Superior Court upholds igaming model
In May, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed an application brought forward by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) challenging the Ontario government’s move to allow online gaming in the province.
MCK had been a vocal opponent of C-218, the bill that decriminalized new forms of sports gambling in Canada, that became legislation in June 2021. MCK had been arguing the changes to the way gaming was managed in Ontario were illegal and unconstitutional.
The Ontario Superior Court found that iGaming Ontario’s model was consistent with the Criminal Code.
Rivalry introduces crypto product
Also in May, Rivalry, the Toronto-based sportsbook and igaming operator targeting Millennials and Gen Z, launched a new crypto product called the Rivalry Token, looking to take advantage of some of the behavioral trends behind crypto’s growth among tech-savvy generations Rivalry is targeting a blockchain-based product to help further build market share among digitally native bettors.
“Online gambling is the latest web-based consumer category being increasingly disrupted by blockchain technologies with greater speed, access, and functionality than their legacy counterparts,” said Steven Salz, Co-Founder and CEO, Rivalry. “Tech-savvy bettors are leading a behavioral shift towards more experiential and crypto-enabled gambling experiences that are taking wallet share from incumbents at an accelerated rate.”
Canadian Gaming Summit
In June, the annual industry event for gaming and sports betting senior executives from across Canada and beyond, produced by SBC in collaboration with the Canadian Gaming Association, was held again at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Deloitte job creation report
According to Deloitte’s Economic Contributions of Ontario’s Regulated iGaming Market – Year 2 report released at the Summit, Ontario’s regulated competitive igaming market sustained nearly 15,000 jobs and added a combined $1.24 billion to federal, provincial, and municipal government revenues.
Big SIGA report
The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) announced in July record-breaking profit for the second in a row, $346.6 million in gross revenue for their recent fiscal year (April 1, 2023-March 31, 2024), with net income of $138.8 million. In the previous fiscal year, those numbers were $303.6 million in revenue, and net income of $126.8 million.
SIGA, which launched in 1996, operates seven casinos in the province with slot machines, live table games, electronic table games, live entertainment, an array of lounges and restaurants and the online gaming website PlayNow.com, the only legally operated online gaming and sports betting site in Saskatchewan.
IGO self-exclusion program
iGaming Ontario announced in August that they’re going with a joint bid by Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360) and IXUP to develop a new centralized self-exclusion system for Ontario, which iGO says is the next chapter in its ongoing dedication to player protections.
Casino Toronto opens VIP room
Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, with the more discerning patron in mind, announced in September they would be bringing in new high-limit slot and table game rooms.
In a statement, the company said the objective was to beef up the casino’s “one-of-a-kind offerings.”
“A key focus for us moving into 2025 is the continued ramp of our Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto property. We were thrilled to open the high limit table and slot rooms in recent months, and going into 2025, we are excited to build on our partnerships with Live Nation and GG Poker, as well as introduce some additional new amenities that we are confident will add to the guest experience and overall appeal of the property,” Great Canadian Chief Marketing Officer Gavin Whiteley told CDC Gaming.
Legislative log jam delays ad bill
A new national advertising legislation (Bill S-269) sits with the Canadian House of Commons, gummed up over a privilege debate involving access to unredacted documents, going into 2025.
The bill calls for the Canadian Heritage Minister (presently Pascale St-Onge) to develop new national standards on gaming advertising around what goes into those ads, when they run, and the volume of advertising. The Minister would begin a dialogue with provincial lawmakers, First Nations, and gaming regulators to set those advertising standards.
Bill S-269 cleared the Senate earlier this month and awaits First Reading in the House of Commons, the first step in a last chapter towards getting Royal Assent for the bill, where it then becomes law. But with the legislative log jam, plus a national election looming (October), and the constant threat of a non-confidence vote bringing down the minority Liberal government sooner, some wonder if the bill will ever see the light of day.
Igaming Ontario Q2 market report
The last market performance report for Ontario was issued in October, reporting total wagers of $18.7 billion in Q2 (does not include promotional wagers, or bonuses), a 1.6% increase over the last quarter and a 31.7% increase over Q2 of 2023-24. Total gaming revenue in Q2 was $738 million, a 1.7% increase over Q1 and a 35.4% year-over-year increase. The report covered the second quarter (Q2) of the 2024-25 fiscal year (July 1 to Sept. 30, 2024).
