Keeping Canadian business "is very deliberate": PointsBet CEO
Sam Swanell says it's business as usual for the company in the Great White North. Also, GBG is hosting a webinar on regulated iGaming in Canada, and WagerWire rides a wave that includes Ontario.
In this issue:
It’s business as usual for PointsBet Canada
GBG to host What’s Next for iGaming in Canada webinar
Sport integrity veteran McLaren on LinkedIn Audio today
Five years after repeal of PASPA
WagerWire founders are riding a wave
PointsBet CEO provides statement on Canadian operation
Sam Swanell and the rest of leadership at PointsBet headquarters in Australia remain bullish on Ontario, and the rest of Canada.
In a statement emailed to Gaming News Canada yesterday, the managing director and Group CEO of PointsBet explained the company’s decision to not include its Canadian operation with the pending sale of PointsBet USA to Fanatics which was announced Sunday evening.
“The decision to keep Canada part of the new PointsBet is very deliberate,” Swanell said in the statement. “Keeping Canada means shareholders retain exposure to the North American Market through a jurisdiction that is more attractive than most US states. If you look at the primary driver behind the sale of our US assets in terms of the level of cash investment required to ultimately reach profitability, our present situation and the outlook in Canada is fundamentally different. We see a path to profitability in Canada within 18-24 months, without the need for significant additional capital.”
Swanell also echoed what we were told Sunday evening that the company is pleased with the performance of PB Canada in Ontario’s crowded marketplace.
“ In our first year of operations in Ontario, we have managed to cut through and establish brand awareness in one of the world's most competitive sports betting & iGaming markets and we plan to build on that momentum going forward,” he said. “As part of the transaction (with Fanatics), we retain control of our technology stack - consistently rated by independent industry experts as a Top 3 product and platform - including our market-leading live in-game betting capabilities.
“We have a very exciting roadmap ahead of us, particularly on the online casino side, which will better equip us to compete in the large and growing casino segment, and complement our existing strength on the sports betting side.”
So, for now, it’s business as usual at PointsBet Canada HQ in downtown Toronto.
As for Fanatics, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming in its latest edition of The EKG Line newsletter, weighed in on the prospects of the sports betting/gaming newcomer going up against U.S. market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings with the PointsBet acquisition:
. . . Should FanDuel and DraftKings be worried? A little. Their market shares have been climbing over the last year to 47% and 27% respectively. However they are now faced with at least two stalking second movers in Fanatics and bet365—both of which have deep pockets, a good product (a proven one in the case of bet365), and a long-term commitment to the market. They are also ramping up at a time when the U.S. OSB market—characterized by homogeneous products and a softening competitive landscape—is ripe for disruption.
And, in case you missed it (as we did), Fanatics Betting & Gaming CEO Matt King said the acquisition of PointsBet’s American business allows the new owners to save on licensing fees in the jurisdictions where PointsBet already operates.
Finally, JohnWallStreet had a gab with gambling industry investment gurus Chris Grove and Lloyd Danzig for their respective perspectives on the PointsBet-Fanatics deal.
Want to onboard more players in Ontario? GBG, global leaders in identity and fraud prevention, are the first to give iGaming firms access to two of Canada’s main credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. With access to two of the main credit bureaus in Canada, Operators can increase their player match rates, improve their acquisition rate and onboard more good players first-time. Learn more.
GBG Plc to present What’s Next for iGaming in Canada webinar
Our mandate here at Gaming News Canada HQ is to keep stakeholders in the Canadian gambling industry informed on the latest news, and also to educate newcomers and curious types about the business of sports betting and gaming.
With gratitude to the presenting sponsor of our twice-weekly newsletter, GBG Plc, we’re adding a component of webinarish proportions on Tuesday, June 6. What’s Next for iGaming in Canada will be a one-hour discussion of how we arrived at the current state of regulated sports betting and gaming in our home and native land, the lay of said land, and where does the industry go from here. The hour will shine a light on the challenges and opportunities in opening up a regulated marketplace in Alberta, British Columbia, and other provinces. And, of course, the panel will analyze the first 14 months of Ontario’s open market, and the role that operators, suppliers and other stakeholders have played in what has been characterized in most corners as a successful launch in one of the world’s largest sports betting and igaming jurisdictions.
Your humble correspondent will dig out of mothballs our jar of Max Factor pancake makeup to sit in the host’s seat for the webinar. Confirmed to provide their expertise and insight are Rebekah Jackson, GBG’s Director of Gaming, and Canadian industry veteran Amanda Brewer, the Canadian Country Manager for Kindred Group, with a third panelist TBC.
"With the success of the joint efforts of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and its iGaming Ontario subsidiary, the odds that other Canadian provinces will follow suit has never been greater,” said Jackson “Please join us as we reflect on the achievements of many stakeholders in Ontario so far, the key learnings we can take from this newly regulated market and predict where growth opportunities lie for savvy operators in the coming months.
“Sixty per cent of gaming brands legally operating in the province are working with GBG and we are excited to see where iGaming in Canada will go next.”
The webinar will include a question-and-answer session at the end of the hour, and you can sign up today to listen and/or participate.
Sports integrity leader Richard McLaren joins Gaming News Canada Show
When the crack production team for the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP went looking for an expert on integrity and corruption in sport, it went directly to the top.
Richard McLaren, an Officer of the Order of Canada, the Integrity Officer for FIBA and the International Boxing Association, and the Chief Anti-Corruption Officer for professional tennis around the world, will join us on LinkedIn Audio for the first half-hour of our show this afternoon (and thank you to Bob Copeland from McLaren Global Sport Solutions for helping tee up his boss’s appearance). We’ll ask McLaren about the ongoing concerns around competition manipulation/match-fixing, and the work that’s being done by the various stakeholders to ensure a fair and level playing field. And, we’ll discuss the May 30-31 Symposium on Competition Manipulation and Corruption in Sport taking place in the city below Vaughan, and being co-hosted by MGSC and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.
In the second half of the show, we’re scheduled to have regular contributors Amanda Brewer and Kris Abbott to help our audience take stock of the events from the past seven days, including a wrapup of the SBC Summit North America, and the acquisition of PointsBet USA by Fanatics. And, on the off-chance you missed last week’s live show from the SBC Summit (and merci encore to Sue Schneider, Benjie Cherniak, John Pappas, Masheed Ahadi, the aforementioned Monsieur Abbott and Dr. Mike Naraine for being with us):
Five years post-PASPA repeal
Sunday marked the five-year anniversary of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which not only opened the door to legal sports betting beyond Nevada in the U.S. of A., but also played a part in legalizing single-event sports betting up here in the true north, strong and free. We grabbed some of the comprehensive coverage of the anniversary:
If you believe PASPA is a soft drink/soda brand, may we suggest perusing this oral history of the law’s annulment and the subsequent beehive of activity across the U.S. from the keyboard of Sports Handle’s Brett Smiley.
Jeff Tracy at Axios has a neat and tidy snapshot of sports betting handle and revenue over the past four years.
Eric Ramsey of Legal Sports Reports, as my father says, done good with this catch-all of where we were, where we are, and where are we going with legal sports betting and igaming south of the border.
Another LSRer, John Holden, keyboarded a good, bad and ugly summary of the first five years.
ESPN sports betting beat writer David Purdum delivered the numbers amassed in regulated sports betting across the U.S. since 2018.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s some controversy around sports betting advertising, Part I.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s some controversy around sports betting advertising, Part Deux.
JohnWallStreet dug into what lies ahead over the next five years for the sports betting industry south of the border.
Andrew Bimson, the North American president/COO for Sportradar, predicts a sports betting boom driven by technology over the next five years.
Eric Raskin of US Bets explains how casino gambling in Pennsylvania helped open the door to regulated sports wagering across the country.
Three former UCLA frat brothers riding the WagerWire wave
Did you hear the one about the three guys - one who published his masters thesis on a machine-learning algorithm that systematically outperformed NBA betting markets, one who founded his first business before his bar mitzvah, and a theatre, film and TV school graduate who’s been involved in a Academy Awards-nominated film - who became buddies while they were fraternity brothers at UCLA and started their own company in the sports betting industry?
If the answer is no, meet Guy Dotan, Zach Doctor and Travis Geiger, the co-founders of WagerWire, the Los Angeles startup which we profiled in The Company Line section of Tuesday’s dispatch, and is riding a wave these days. At the beginning of May, WagerWire announced affiliate deals with nine operators and that it was also authorized to operate in 16 states and Washington, D.C. And, oh yeah, the sports betting marketplace company also got the green light from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to do business as a vendor. Among the company’s investors are Betr co-founder Joey Levy, Miami Marlins and Leeds United FC co-owner Roger Ehrenberg and Cardinal Sports Group, which has Canadian roots through former Gaming Nation and Pointstreak president/CEO Scott Secord.
We chatted with the three Bruins alumni - who all took leaves from their previous jobs to focus on WagerWire - at the iGaming Next conference in New York back in March, and caught up with them again last week at the SBC Summit North America. The best bon mots from that conversation, which also included Dotan letting us know that the company also has a free-to-play app en route:
On what is WagerWire:
Doctor: You can track your bets all in one place, and sell and buy bets at any time. For example, if you’re a Miami Heat fan, you bought them low (to win the NBA title) at the start of the season. Now you’re selling this bet because they’re on this incredible playoff run, but you don’t think they’re going to win. A customer can buy it cheaper on WagerWire than on a sportsbook. You can also sell a part of your bet. It’s a secondary market.
On getting a vendor’s licence in Ontario:
Geiger: “We’ve always thought of Ontario and Canada as a good market for us. They’ve been very conscious about creating a healthy, responsible marketplace from the beginning. They’re also super innovative there.
On the link between micro/in-game betting, and WagerWire’s business of providing a destination for sports fans to buy and sell previously placed bets:
Doctor: Joey Levy was one of our earliest supporters because he saw there’s a parallel with what microbetting did. It took him a couple of years to break in with DraftKings and now everyone lining up to get microbetting. We’re about one year into this, and I think we’re going to be able to do it faster because everyone is hip now to jumping on the next trend. It’s more of a winner-take-all than microbetting because of the network effect. There is this buyer-and-seller network effect.
Geiger: We’re different than a pure white-label solution, just giving the tech to the operators. We’re not just handing off the technology. We’re driving community, and we’re taking an active interest in educating (new bettors) We’re out there bringing people into the ecosystem. The operators like that it’s a customer engagement tool and a retention too.
What makes the WagerWire marketplace attractive to sportsbooks?
Geiger: We’re actually helping them move tickets in a way that create a post-wager handle. It’s a life for the bet after it’s been placed. We think it’s going to grow the pie. You’re going to take these crazy swings you never would have taken because you now have a way out. Or maybe you bet $100 instead of $50 because you’re going to sell half of it later. The healthy way to grow the pie is through empowerment and optionality. .
Doctor: . . . Rather than predatory behaviour.
On WagerWire creating a community through the buying and selling of bets, and creating a destination for content creators and shows the Queens Round Table, the Mental Health Hour and Reminisce with Chris:
Geiger: What’s missing from the (online betting) experience is that it’s just you on your phone. We’re building a community so you feel that connection to people. We’ve spoken with some sportsbooks with influencers who can place a big bet, then put it up for sale and everyone can crowdfund it and ride it together.
There’s a language on how to talk about betting in sports media that’s still being discovered. ESPN could become CNBC in kind of a seamless way but it takes a certain language and culture to develop that (by the by, this interview took place before the news that Pat McAfee was leaving FanDuel to join The Worldwide Leader).
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