CGA Leaders Forum a day of celebration, collaboration and education
From some rather robust numbers released by iGaming Ontario, to an Ipsos survey reflecting serious buy-in from customers on the regulated market, there was lots to fete - and learn - from Year 1.
In this issue:
A day of celebration and collaboration
You’re invited to LinkedIn Audio this afternoon
A (day-long) Kumbaya moment, and what we learned Tuesday
Any time we can dig into the YouTube archives and put a smile on the faces of our oldies-loving subscribers, by George we’re going to do just that. Besides, Judith Dunham and the Seekers capture quite nicely the feeling inside a room at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Tuesday.
Now, before anyone gets in a huff and thinks we’re delivering some stiff shots of cynicism and cheapness when it comes to the sold-out Leaders Forum hosted by the Canadian Gaming Association, hold on to your virtual deck of cards. Nobody should be gobsmacked that there would be handshakes, high-fives, hugs and glass-overfloweth oratories on the first year of the province’s regulated gambling industry from the gathering of sportsbook and igaming operators, regulators, suppliers/vendors, agency types and even the Attorney General of Ontario, Doug Downey.
“I don’t think I’ve used the word 'thrilled’ as many times as I have over the past year,” iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton said at the beginning of the forum. “We launched with 12 operators. It’s important to remember what the government goals were: player choice and player protection, and to provide opportunities for the legal market to raise revenue for the province and reduce red tape.”
The reasons were plenty for a celebration on the one-year anniversary. As was mentioned a few times over the day-long forum, what the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario - with a huge helping hand from iGaming Ontario - have created isn’t perfect and the jurisdiction has some fine-tuning to do. But H-E-double hockey sticks, Connor McDavid is playing like a man amongst boys this NHL season, and No. 97 isn’t Mr. Perfect.
To quote Evita Peron, time is our greatest enemy and it sure is this week. That said, we have gone through the many, many, many spoken words from the parade of panelists at the CGA forum, and present a list of things we learned about Year 1.
While Otton was participating in the opening-remarks segment to kick off the day, the conductor and manager of the most competitive market (40-plus operators and 75-plus gaming digital sites) put out a news release announcing that $35.6 billion in total wagers and approximately (iGO is still compiling the numbers from the final days of March) $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue. Those rather lofty numbers put Ontario among the top-five igaming jurisdictions in North America. iGO also reported more than 1.6 million active player accounts with regulated operators across the province (keep in mind players will often have more than one igaming account). It’s also important to note that these figures don’t include what the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation brings in digital gaming revenue (which OLG reported was $511 million in fiscal 2021-22).
Conversations we’ve had over the past couple of weeks indicated that iGO would be more forthcoming with data in their quarterly/annual reports moving forward. Baby steps were taken Tuesday with a top five of most popular sports with Ontario bettors: the NBA at No. 1 with 28 per cent of wagers followed by soccer (15%, undoubtedly aided by FIFA World Cup 2022 ), the NFL (14%), NHL (9%) and MLB (8%). With online casino wagers, slots lead the way (48%) followed by live dealer games (32%) and computer-based table games (19%). Otton added that the organization is working on delivering more data.
During AGCO chief operating officer Dave Phillips’ remarks, the commission put out its own news release with the major takeaway coming from a recent Ipsos survey that revealed 85.3 per cent of respondents who had gambled online over the past three months had done so with regulated operators. You can read the entire Ipsos report here. “We’ve largely displaced the unregulated market, and we want to keep going,” said Downey.
Dave Pridmore, the chief gaming officer for OLG, told the audience that the corporation’s revenue continued to climb in the gambling space over the past year, along with its online gaming base. “iGaming Ontario created a competitive market, so we needed to adjust where we were with our culture,” Pridmore said.
There was a collective raising of eyebrows and pricking of ears in the room by advocates for taking the Ontario model - or a semblance of it - into other provinces. Aaron GlynWilliams, OLG’s research, strategy and social responsibility director, pointed to the competitive market as a learning opportunity in the area of responsible gambling - where OLG has been recognized as a global leader in RG with its PlaySmart program.
Speaking of going beyond Ontario, Dale Hooper from FanDuel, Benjie Levy of theScore and Scott Vanderwel from PointsBet Canada were unanimous about expanding the regulated market to other provinces. “It’s pretty remarkable how far this industry has come in one year, and how much this industry got right,” said Vanderwel. “The vast majority of Canadians are still not betting within a legal framework and that’s a real lost opportunity.”
We’ve heard it from others in our conversations about Year 1, and BetMGM responsible gambling manager Rich Taylor mentioned the expertise and experience of Ontario players - thanks largely to the former grey market. “We’ve found from the 26 different jurisdictions we’re in, that the Ontario player is a lot more gambler literate. When we educate those customers, we can start from a better place than the U.S.”
Also from the session on RG, Kindred Group’s Canadian country manager Amanda Brewer reiterated the need for iGO to implement a centralized self-exclusion program. Also from Brewer: “Hopefully responsible gambling plays more of a role on the partnership and sponsorship front.”
If there had been an over bet on the use of “collaboration” over the seven-ish hours Tuesday - and we made it - the sending of this morning’s dispatch would have come from a tropical island. Hell, even senior executives from Bell Media and Rogers Sports & Media - who sometimes make the Battle of Alberta seem like a tea party with the crust cut off the watercress sandwiches - were singing from the same hymn book. “Al (Dark) and I talked 15 months ago and said we’ve got to do this the right way,” said Bell senior VP of sales and sports Stewart Johnston, appearing with the Rogers chief revenue officer on an Advertising as a Shared Responsibility panel . “If either one of those two groups deviated (from the boundaries the two companies have put in place around sports betting and igaming ads, and editorial content), we felt that would send the wrong message.” Added Dark: “We spent a lot of time looking at other markets and the mistakes they made. We don’t want to have to deal with restrictions.”
Despite the outcry on social media and from mainstream media types, both Dark and Johnston said the number of direct complaints has been below minimal. “We get thousands and thousands of feedback points from our audience every year, and the majority of them have to do with movies. There’s been very little feedback from this (the gambling) category,” said Dark. Added Johnston: “We get a lot of feedback, too. We’ve had less than 35 complaints (since the Ontario market opened).”
Catherine MacLeod, the moderator for the advertising panel and president/CEO of thinkTV - the approval agency for advertising on Canadian broadcasting networks - said that of the more than 33,000 commercials and public service announcements that were approved for air over the past year, 347 were from sports betting and igaming operators (less than one per cent). MacLeod added that commercials around free-to-play or .net gambling sites have decreased to .2% from 2-4% before regulation in Ontario. “The regulated market is making a difference,” she said.
An edict from the regulators for contact information to the ConnexOntario problem gambling hotline in all commercials has coincided with an increase in calls to the 24/7 service, MacLeod pointed out.
The March 7 edition of Gaming News Canada was the most highly-read newsletter we’ve had, a result of our reporting on operators feeling blindsided by notice from iGO that it would pass along charges stemming from due diligence done by Scotiabank to operators who joined the market before the end of last year. On Tuesday, iGO board chair Dave Forestell said: “The banking fees were too high. We agree and that won’t happen again.”
From the Dept. of No Spit, Sherlock: you can also put us in the category of not perfect. We write that because the affiliate marketing sector of the gambling industry is one that we’ve haven’t dedicated enough time to learning. So, thanks to J.D McNamara from Better Collective, Andrew Garven of Covers, and Nic Sulsky from PointsBet Canada for the Affiliate Marketing 101 lesson. Both affiliates and operators (who currently are responsible for keeping tabs on what the affiliates promote in Ontario) are eager to see a road to regulation for affiliates. “We want to fish where the fish are,” said Sulsky, referring to affiliates - and their picks, props and other content - being an attractive destination for bettors. “Places like Ohio (which launched legal online sports wagering in January), they allow affiliates to show and explain bonuses, but they have stringent rules around describing them.”
The AGCO, however, has made it clear that bonuses and inducements - the key piece to the affiliate/operator relationship and part and parcel of online sports betting in U.S. states - aren’t welcome. And that’s highly unlikely to change any time soon.
Join the conversation on LinkedIn Audio this afternoon
If you attended Tuesday’s CGA Leaders Forum, or were unable to make it and would like to hear more about the day’s events, there’s an open invitation to listen - and participate in the dialogue - this afternoon between 2-3 p.m.
Your friendly neighbourhood chronicler will be in the host’s seat, and regular contributors Will Hill (Sightline Payments), and Amanda Brewer (Kindred Group) are scheduled to be on board. We’ve also reached out to include some other voices, as we look to dig a little deeper into what comes next not only in Ontario, but across the rest of the country for a competitive gambling landscape.
By the by, this week’s Gaming News Show podcast is worth a listen with Canadian Gaming Association leader Paul Burns, Brewer, Hill, Sulsky, Mark Silver and Kris Abbott all chiming in on Year 1.
On the Home Front
Geoff Zochodne at Covers provided boots-on-the-ground coverage from the CGA gathering Tuesday.
Dave Briggs and the very good people at Play Canada wore out a keyboard or two over the past week with a series of articles on Ontario’s one-year anniversary, including:
Reaching out to operators for their thoughts and observations about the first 365 days.
Play Canada’s C.J. Pierre reported on the increase in calls to Connex Ontario about problem gambling since the opening of the regulated Ontario market.
Matthew Lomon had a gab with 20-something bettors about their experiences in Ontario-ari-ari-o.
The aforementioned Briggs solicited the thoughts from bettors of the more knowledgeable vintage.
And Briggs yet again did some keyboarding (get the man an ice pack for the fingers and thumbs) on made-in-Toronto companies theScore and Rivalry and a summary of their respective Year 1 operations.
Our friends at Earnings+More spoke with analysts at JMP, who “suggested the implied spend-per-head figure ($69 monthly) was at ~75% of the US market average”.
Dan Ralph from the people’s wire service did some reporting and typing on the one-year anniversary, including comments from Bill C-218 instigator Kevin Waugh.
Mark Keast of CDC Gaming Reports got in on the leading gaming news du jour, too.
From south of the border, Sports Handle’s Matt Rybaltowski covered a lot of territory with his take on Ontario’s first year of licensed gambling.
From theScore on the first 12 months in Ontario (and thank you The Levy Trio - John, Benjie and Aubrey - Dan Sabreen, Gordon Stevenson and the rest of theScore gang for hosting us at their newish Queen’s Quay digs late Tuesday afternoon):
There’s more from GeoComply on the work it has done to prevent fraud in the Ontario market.
The short lists for next month’s SBC Awards North America have been released and there is Canadian representation including the owners of this weekly endeavour.
On an investors call last week, GAN CEO Dermot Smurfit explained Coolbet’s exit from the Ontario market.
The Toronto Sun’s Jane Stevenson reported that a dealer and four customers have been charged with cheating at Woodbine Casino.
Let’s Get Together
Gaming giant Light & Wonder and Reel Play will be providing games to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
NRT will start providing its smartSEND payments solution to Great Canadian Entertainment.
Pariplay and Ainsworth are teaming up on a Canadian content distribution deal.
Bet365 and the Colorado Rockies are getting together.
GBG Plc’s latest partner is UK wealth management company St. James’s Place.
Arizona-based Desert Diamond Partners has done a deal with Chalkline to deliver free-to-play sports prediction games online.
Quarter(s) Pole
FaZe Clan’s latest financials showed an increase in net losses from the previous year.
XL Media released its 12-month financials for 2022.
Allwyn saw a rise in revenue and earnings last year.
States Side Stories
American Gaming Association grand poobah Bill Miller came out yesterday with an op-ed, and a tweet, about the criticism over sports betting advertising:
Last month in Kentucky, more than 1.2 million attempts were made to place a bet, according to data provided by GeoComply.
Faculty at Michigan State have banded together to ask their employer to end its partnership with Caesars.
In his latest Closing Line blog post, Dustin Gouker mused about the quagmire that is sports gambling in Georgia.
A survey released this week showed that 33 per cent of online gamblers in Pennsylvania believe they’ve had a problem with their wagering.
Thanks to BetMGM communications maven Katie Kohler for passing along this tidbit:
Esports Reports
Snoop Dogg has departed the board of directors at FaZe Clan. We can only assume he did so in a puff of smoke. . . .
Quick Hits
The Toronto Raptors’ Chris Boucher doesn’t like what sports betting is doing to the relationship between players and aficionados.
Deloitte has put out a report of the global sports investment type that’s bullish on M&A activity this year.
An array of thoughts for speeding up the process around more diversity and inclusion in the gambling biz.
Coming soon to a screen/town near you
A reminder to startups to fill out the application form to participate in the SBC First Pitch competition June 15th at theCanadian Gaming Summit.
VIXIO Payments Compliance is hosting a webinar (gratis) on Open Banking: Connecting the Jigsaw Puzzle on April 25th.
People on the Move
Former Meta engineering director Vadim Jelezniako is GeoComply’s new Chief Technology Officer.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League has promoted John Lashway to Deputy Commissioner and Josh Knoester to Chief Operating Officer.
Former Experian CPO Nicolle Carroll is Paysafe’s first Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer.
Jason Scott is leaving his post as VP Trading, VIP and Retail Sportsbooks to move back home to Australia. We wish Jason well.
Former NBCUniversal executive Lisa Berman Viteri has joined FanDuel as VP, Market Insights and Research.
BetMakers’ North American CEO Christian Stewart is leaving the company today, while Chelsey Abbott has been promoted to Chief People Officer.
At Pinnacle’s still-new Toronto HQ, Stephen Francella has come on board as the Head of Brand Marketing while comms veteran Jamie Deans is the recently installed Communications Officer.
Ben Fawkes departed VSiN/DraftKings last week as Vice President, Content.
Patrick Sandusky has stepped down from his communications executive role with PointsBet to become the new Vice President, Communications for the Chicago Bulls. We wish Patrick well with his new gig.
George Sabbouh was given the keys to the directors’ stationary cabinet following his promotion with Stifel’s Financial Corporation’s investment banking division - gaming, technology and diversified industries.
Rebecca Angus has also received a promotion with her new title as Head of Marketing at GBG Plc.
Former EBay-er Chris Knowles has moved to FanDuel as Operational Risk Senior Associate.
Xavier Besseau has joined Sportradar as Director, Gaming Sales, Latin America.
Favio Torres has a new role at theScore as an Android Developer.
Henry (I Don’t Give a) Meijdam is the new chair of Dutch gambling association Van Kansspelen.
Congratulations to Charlie Horner, who’s been promoted to Senior Journalist at SBC Americas and Canadian Gaming Business.
Connor Chambers has left Overwatch Media as Team Manager of the Toronto Ultra.
Classified (Jobs) Information
Bally’s Interactive in Toronto is on a seek-and-employ mission for a Vice President, Brand & Sports Marketing.
TheScore has an opening for a Casino Marketing Insights Manager, and is also searching for a Front-End Developer, Retail.
The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority is hiring a Health & Wellness Coordinator.
Rivalry has a remote job available for a Mobile Legends & Dota2 social media specialist, Philippines.
Nos amis at Paysafe’s Montreal location are looking for a Translator.
The Action Network is seeking a Commercial Partnerships Specialist, along with a Director, Commercial Partnerships.
Betting Jobs is doing some recruitment in Toronto for an Affiliate Manager.
BetKarma has an opening in the U.S. of A. for a Director of Operations.
OverActive Media’s MAD Lions franchise is in the market for a Manager, Partnerships.
Riot Games in LA is seeking a Competition Manager - VALORANT (Americas).
Sharp Gaming is hiring a Network Manager for its Manchester, UK offices.
The Canadian Football League is on the lookout for a Director, Media Sales & Global Partnerships.
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