BetMGM's latest financial results reinforce the overwhelming popularity of iGaming
And that includes Ontario, according to CEO Adam Greenblatt and the June market report from iGaming Ontario. Speaking of iGO, the wait continues for a new leader and self-exclusion system.
For the overwhelming majority folks who like to wager a bauble or two in North America’s legal markets, The Wizard of Oz, Price is Right and Family Feud trump Wimbledon, the Open Championship, Women’s Euro 2025, and the MLB All-Star Game.
The release of the financials for the second quarter and first half of 2025 yesterday by BetMGM reinforced the overwhelming popularity of online casino games compared to betting on sports. In its June market performance metrics, iGaming Ontario reported 88 per cent of handle was committed to online gaming - the largest percentage since the province’s regulated industry launched in April 2022 (Dave Briggs has more on those numbers a little lower in this edition of the newsletter).
On an analysts call yesterday, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt relayed his optimism for the expansion of legal igaming beyond the seven states currently giving that blessing south of the border. We weren’t able to ask Greenblatt about the company’s Ontario business on the call, so we reached out to its crack communications crew, which emailed us this statement from the head honcho.
“We’re proud that BetMGM continues to build on its leadership position in Ontario, which is one of the most competitive markets in the world. As in the United States, iGaming remains the contribution engine of the business, accounting for a majority of our gross revenue.”
“Our Q2 Ontario results aligned with continued strong growth in U.S. regions – a reflection of premium brand positioning, platform experience improvements, and exclusive new content in iGaming.”
“As we reinforce our foundation in Ontario, we look forward with optimism to the 2026 launch of sports betting and iGaming in Alberta. In the meantime, we anticipate our customers’ passion for the 2025 NFL season, the Major League Baseball pennant races, and – dare we say it – Toronto Blue Jays post-season baseball.”
With a tap of ye olde True hockey twig to Ryan Butler from Covers for his X post, some numbers from yesterday’s announcement by BetMGM that contrast and compare the first half of 2024 with the first six months of the current annum:
iGaming net revenue: $695 million in 2024 and $891m this year (all in Amarican dollars)
Online sports betting net revenue: $262m -> $422m
Online sports betting handle: $5.9b -> $7.5b
Retail sports betting net revenue: $42m -> $36m
(For the whole kit and kaboodle on the latest results, click here).
Greenblatt offered some thoughts and layers on the hottest/most contentious issues south of the border right now:
On sweepstakes: “They should be illegal gaming. I’m delighted to see states increasingly adopting legislation against the sweeps industry. We are advocating for more regulated igaming states. The good guys aren’t benefiting.”
BetMGM is monitoring (daily) the presence and operating by predictions markets in sports and other betting. “We are not underestimating the possibility that this becomes a meaningful factor in our sector. But we are not going to be a first mover.”
On the expansion of legal online gaming in U.S. states: - “We are incredibly motivated to see more igaming states. I’m personally encouraged that 2025 has seen the highest number of new bills introduced since Michigan introduced igaming (in 2019). The new bills introduced tells me more igaming states is a function of when and not if.”
And, on the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill’s changes to wagering loss deductions: “We think this is going to go away. There are enough smart people who recognize this may not have been the best approach to take.”
Ontario has surpassed $8 billion in lifetime online gambling revenue
Ontario has passed another milestone with respect to online gambling revenue. The iGaming Ontario figures for June pushed total online gambling revenue over $8 billion to $8.03 billion since the market launched in April of 2022. That translates into total lifetime tax revenue of $1.6 billion.
Meanwhile, the province’s online gambling revenue (excluding OLG, of course) for June was a mixed bag. Total revenue of $306.8 million was down 9% from May, but that month produced the single best month in Ontario history (revenue of $338 million). Also, June was also the fourth best month in history and also only the fourth time total gambling revenue has topped $300 million in the 38 months since the open market took flight.
The biggest factor driving the month-over-month decline was sports betting, which was down 21% in handle (from $972 million in May to $768 million in June) and off 19% in revenue from $71.8 million to $58.4 million. That’s to be expected as the summer sports season is less attractive to bettors.
On the online casino front, gross gambling revenue was down 6% from May to June. But the $243 million in June revenue was the second best in history, second only to the $259.8 million achieved in May.
Online poker revenue of $5.4 million in June was down 15% from $6.3 million in May.
Year over year, June 2025 was up 28% over June 2024 ($240 million) in terms of total gambling revenue, up 42% in online casino revenue and down 8% in sports betting revenue.
Year to date, Ontario’s total online gambling revenue through the first six months of 2025 is $1.86 billion. That’s up 33% over the first six months of 2024 ($1.4 billion) and up 69% over the first six months of 2023 ($1.1 billion).
On that pace, Ontario is set to surpass $3.7 billion in total online gambling revenue in the calendar year of 2025. That compares to just over $3 billion in 2024, $2.27 billion in 2023 and $889 million in 2022 (only eight months).
Random State’s Adam Fonsica joins Gaming News Canada Show
Former professional poker player Adam Fonsica joined host Steve McAllister on the most recent Gaming News Canada Show podcast. Fonsica is now the chief operating officer of Sweden’s Random State, which recently announced a partnership with Ontario-based Delta Bingo & Gaming.
Fonsica spoke about that deal, Random State’s interest in Ontario, the impact of the digital world on playing lottery games and bingo, and also provided his insight on regulated gambling in his homeland.
You can listen to the podcast here via your favourite app or watch it here:
iGO still waits for centralized self-exclusion program and a new boss
The waiting game within iGaming Ontario continues on a couple of fronts.
The start of the Civic Holiday long weekend in Ontari-ari-ari-o on Friday will mark 365 days since the conductor and manager of the province’s regulated gambling industry announced the selection of IC360 and IXUP to build a centralized, self-exclusion program which operators and other stakeholders have been calling for almost since the launch of the market in April 2022.
To refresh our aging memory (well, our first Old Age Security payment landed in our bank account as we were tinkling the keyboard yesterday), the “first of its kind (system) in North America” would provide:
A seamless integrating with all regulated Ontario igaming operators’ systems, including OLG.ca.
Anyone 19+ with easy access to create and manage their self-exclusion profile.
The implementation of identity verification, registration, renewal, and reinstatement processes that are intuitive, simple, and offer supporting resources.
Meanwhile, it’s been 349 days since the organization let it be known that Martha Otton would retire as executive director at the end of 2024. Otton agreed to stay on until the end of March this year, but iGO still hasn’t announced its next chief executive (although board chair Heidi Reinhart said at last month’s Canadian Gaming Summit that an announcement wasn’t too far away)/
Gaming News Canada reached out to iGO for an update and received this response from corporate affairs director Alexander Bishop:
We appreciate your interest in iGaming Ontario’s leadership, and in our work on centralized self-exclusion.
With the full support of iGaming Ontario’s Board of Directors, Interim President and CEO David Smith continues to advance our work to implement centralized self-exclusion alongside the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, operators and OLG. We have no additional updates to share at this time.
People on the Move
Joseph Chalom, formerly of BlackRock, is the new Co-Chief Executive Officer at SharpLink Gaming.
Wayne Pickup is leaving his post as Chief Executive Officer of Allwyn North America, to replace Sue van der Merwe as the Chief Executive of Australia’s Lottery Corporation.
Jim Keller joins FanDuel Sports Network as Executive VP of Advertising and Sponsorship Sales.
George Connors departs Everi Holdings as Senior VP, Fintech Solutions to join IGT as Senior VP, FinTech Americas/EMEA Sales.
GRID esports promote Dominika Maria Szot to Vice President of Growth.
Christian Polsater bids adieu to LeoVegas Group after eight years, most recently as Group Sports Director.
Last week, the fledgling Boomer’s Sports Book created by industry veteran Joe Asher announced several appointments, including: Dave Grolman, Senior VP of Sportsbook and Customer Support Operations; Nick Bogdanovich, Head of Trading; Debinique Blackburn, Senior VP of Human Resources; Shawn Odell, Controller; and Gina Cervone, VP of Legal and Compliance.
Jim McGlasson, the long-time ad sales executive who’s been leading sales for CDC Gaming for the past nine years, is calling it a career.
Among the folks departing SportsGrid last week are personalities Scott Ferrall, Gabriel Morency, Jo Madden, Mike Carver, Mathias Berbel and Brian Ciano.
Marcy Withington is the WTA’s new Chief Financial Officer.
FanDuel Canada head honcho Dale Hooper is among the new appointees to Baseball Canada’s Board of Directors.
Classified (Jobs) Information
CDC Gaming has an opening in Las Vegas for a Head of Advertising Sales and Client Relationships.
Electronic Arts is in hiring mode for a Senior Director, Business Strategy, EA Sports.
PointsBet Canada is searching for a Motion Graphics & Visual Designer.
Flutter UK & Ireland is seeking a Head of Organic Search.
Boyle Sports has an opening in Dundalk, Ireland, for an On-Site Operations Executive.
Must be able to properly pour a Guinness.Wanted at theScore: a Data Science Manager, Football.
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries is in the market for a Manager, Network Services.
B2B game developer Playson is looking for an Event Manager.
Delaware North is in the market for a Director of Marketing, Mobile Gaming.
Caesars Entertainment has an opportunity in Las Vegas for a Graduate Data Scientist.
Wanted by Hard Rock Digital: a Senior Manager, Brand Marketing, a Senior Engineering Manager, Quantitative Sports, and a Commercial Specialist.
In Stockholm, Pinnacle has an opening for a .Net Developer.
DraftKings is hiring an Operations Specialist in Boston and bringing a Sports Trader on board in Raleigh, N.C.
Speaking of Raleigh, the FIFA World Cup 26 folks there are looking for a Director, Guest Experience.
Relax Gaming wants to hire a Product Manager, Jackpot.
Penn Interactive is searching for a Senior Game Designer, Mathematician.
LiveScore Group has need for a Senior Product Designer in London.
Las Vegas-based GAN is hiring a Platform Support Analyst.
Kaizen Gaming is looking for a Danish-speaking Content Manager.
There’s an opening for an Accountant at Wildz Group.
BetMGM has an opportunity for a Director, Customer Operations Platforms.
Sportingtech has an opportunity for a Product Designer UI/UX.
GR8 Tech has three-dozen gigs up for grabs these days.
Among the current openings at Low6 is one for a Senior Full Stack Engineer.
Microsoft is looking for a Manager, Gaming Strategy.
The Premier’s Office for the Douglas Ford government in Ontario is in hiring mode for a Policy Advisor/Policy Director.
Canadian digital media company The Logic has an opportunity for a Director of Growth Marketing.
U.S.-based McClatchy Media has an opening for a Senior Writer, Sports with an ability to riff off pop culture.
IMG is seeking an Account Director, Sports Management.
Wanted by the Baltimore Orioles: a Director, Social Media.
Red Bull has its eyes and ears open for a Senior Manager, Culture Marketing.
There’s a Director, Public Relations opening with Professional Bull Riders.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has its eyes out for a Manager, Global Partnerships.
MLS wants to hire a Senior Manager, Premium Content Partnerships.
Among the openings at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley is a Guest Experience Manager.
The Detroit Lions have an opening for a Senior Manager, Partnership Marketing – Naming Rights.
Sports tech startup Ochy is looking for a Digital Marketer.
The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta has an opportunity for a Director, Creative Content.
Spotify has an opening in New York for a Policy & Corporate Communications Manager.
Last call from Canadian Women & Sport for a pair of volunteer additions to its Board of Directors.
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