A few weeks back we had the quarterly stats released for Ontario online casinos, showing a nice uptick in gross gaming revenue from July 1 to Sept. 30. That was the third quarter of the calendar year but the second quarter since the Ontario market launched on April 4.
Those Q2 market numbers showed total wagers at $6.04 billion, with total gaming revenue at $267 million — increases of 48% and 65%, respectively, from Q1 numbers from April 4 through June 30.
Last week we had another snapshot into how the regulated online gambling market in Ontario is really progressing, when PointsBet released Q1 FY23 earnings data from all their operations worldwide, including Canada.
PointsBet Sportsbook Ontario declared a worldwide group handle of $732.3 million USD (around $990.5 million CAD), an 18% change year-over-year rise. Sports betting net win improved by 4% year-over-year to $44.5 million ($60.1 million CAD).
PointsBet Canada Operations Get Boost
The operator’s Canadian operations reported an improvement quarter-over-quarter over all KPIs as PointsBet aims to position itself as one of the top Ontario sportsbooks going forward.
The operator's sportsbook handle in the region is up in Q1 FY23 by 31% compared to the previous quarter to $18.1 million CAD, with live betting representing 59% of the total handle.
PointsBet net win in Canada has also improved by 887% compared to the last quarter to $1.47 million CAD. Per vertical, sports betting net win came in at $0.35 million CAD, while the PointsBet online casino achieved a net win of $1.13 million CAD.
For the six months to Sept. 30, the operator's cash active clients in the region were 13,232. Its marketing expenses for the quarter came in at $5.5 million CAD.
During the quarter, PointsBet Canada launched improvements to its online casino offering, held the PointsBet Invitational — a March Madness-style single elimination curling event that was broadcast nationally on TSN — and went live with its new brand campaign "Play On", which helped increase brand awareness and consideration relative to key peers.
Ontario Sports Betting Now at Casinos
It took too long in the eyes of some people in the industry, but the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. has announced that Ontario’s casino service providers are moving forward with sportsbooks.
Casino operators, crushed by pandemic restrictions related to curbing COVID-19 over the past few years, can now start to package true Las Vegas-style live sports betting experiences to guests. The in-person experience is a complement to the best Ontario casino apps available.
“Sportsbooks in casinos will offer a diverse and integrated entertainment experience for players, give our service providers a stake in the sports gaming market, and bring more jobs and economic benefits to host communities,” says Duncan Hannay, president and CEO of OLG.
Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, said: “This ongoing collaboration will result in new and expanded options for sports betting — including some first-of-their-kind sportsbooks in Canada — which will attract more people to visit Ontario’s casinos and encourage continued growth across the industry.”
Check out the best Ontario sportsbook apps at OntarioBets.com to get comparisons before placing a wager.
