What we learned – and didn’t find out - from the Canadian Gaming Summit
Some thoughts a layers from last week's rendezvous of regulators, operators, suppliers and elected officials. And, John Levy comments on the layoffs imposed by Penn on staff at theScore.
Hard to believe it’s already been seven days since we landed in the lobby of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre looking for a cappuccino on the exhibit floor to kick start the Canadian Gaming Summit.
Firstly, a tap of ye olde Sherwood PMP hockey stick to SBC and everyone involved in organizing the annual rendezvous of the Canadian sports betting and gaming industry. The 2025 edition attracted an unprecedented 3,000-plus attendees, according to our sources, although we noticed some absentees in terms of booking exhibit space on the second floor of the convention centre. Most importantly, as noted by Canadian Gaming Association boss Paul Burns on the latest Gaming News Canada Show, the summit delivered a comprehensive program for anyone wishing to know exactly what’s happening – and what isn’t (more on that below) – here in the true north strong and free.
For the folks who weren’t able to attend the summit, or, like your friendly neighbourhood correspondent, weren’t able to drop by every panel (we highly recommend accessing the on-demand videos of the various and sundry panels when they’re made available by SBC), we present a What We Learned from our trip to the city below Terra Cotta last week:
1. The ninth annual conference will have a new name in 2026. . . SBC Summit Canada, which falls in line with the branding of SBC’s other conferences around the globe. Also, mark May 19-21 in your calendar, and that earlier date may be more palatable to companies interested in booking booth space.
2. Stan Cho, the minister of Ontario’s newly-amalgamated Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, announced on the morning of the conference’s closing day that his office is launching a review of the province’s gaming sector. Cho told a packed room that the review will examine ways to “enhance efficiency” and cut red tape for the industry. Any changes made “are not going to be a bunch of politicians sitting in a room thinking about what’s best for the industry,” said Cho. “We are going to listen to the experts. We are going to listen to what affects you as operators.”
3. As we mentioned in our Friday dispatch, Doug Downey, the Attorney-General of Ontario, delivered some No More Mr. Nice Guy remarks when it comes to gambling companies who have given the one-finger salute when it comes to being licensed. Some 20% of online sports betting in the province continues to take place with operators that haven’t collaborated with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, and iGaming Ontario to become a legal entity. “The market’s matured enough now that people have had an opportunity, and if they’re not going through the door, it’s time they stop playing in our market,” said Downey. “So I think you’ll see a little bit more aggressive approach in that space.”
4. Despite the Edmonton Oilers falling to the Florida Panthers for the second June in a row, Service Alberta/Red Tape Reduction minister Dale Nally showed up for his scheduled remarks. While the minister came without bearing the gift of a launch date for the province’s open market (“I can tell you early next year we’re going to be cutting the ribbon on iGaming in Alberta”), he made it clear that a centralized self-exclusion tool will be available at launch and will include not only online gaming sites but also land-based casinos and racing entertainment centres. Nally also said the province continues to have conversations around the tax rate and advertising rules for the industry and is continuing to consult with land-based casinos and First Nations stakeholders. “We need to hear from them on what they have to say, what they think and how they see themselves contributing to iGaming.”
What We Didn’t Learn
1. While Heidi Reinhart made on-stage appearances on both days of the summit, as a panelist and moderator, the chair of iGaming Ontario’s board of directors had no news on Martha Otton’s successor to lead the conduct-and-manage organization, and didn’t have a launch date for the centralized self-exclusion tool that’s being built by IC360 and Dataworks Group (the company formerly known as IXUP).
2. It appears legal daily fantasy sports isn’t returning to Ontario any time soon. That’s the takeaway from Geoff Zochodne’s reporting on a panel of legal beagles, who, like many in the industry, are awaiting a decision from a Court of Appeal for Ontario judge.
3. The future for PointsBet Canada, as it awaits sale by parent owner PointsBet to either Japanese entertainment giant Mixi or Australian gambling company Betr Entertainement. Betr believes PointsBet shareholders will reject the Mixi takeover, while the PB board begs to differ. Mixi representatives attended the summit last week – and had PointsBet Canada CEO Scott Vanderwel doing photographer’s duties as they huddled around the Stanley Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening.
For more on the summit, we invite you to listen to the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show and your humble host's conversation with Canadian Gaming Association president/CEO Paul Burns.
Lessons from theScore layoffs: Is gambling hastening the death of journalism?
Mass editorial layoffs at theScore last week again showed how the gambling world continues to struggle to integrate with news/sports content, particularly at PENN Entertainment, which has now partnered with three different editorial outlets — first Barstool Sports, then theScore and now ESPN — with lukewarm results at best.
Tom Nightingale reported in Canadian Gaming Business on Friday that about 75 people were laid off at theScore’s Toronto headquarters. That amounts to about half of theScore’s editorial staff. There were a lot of talented people let go, as mentioned by Andrew Bucholtz in Awful Announcing, which is a huge shame. We’re all poorer for it.
John Levy agrees.
The founder of theScore responded yesterday afternoon to Steve McAllister’s email seeking his comments on the layoffs.-[ yt yu
“We built theScore and theScore Bet on innovation, fan engagement and data driven media,” Levy wrote. “To see its ongoing dismantling is heartbreaking for all of us, and by all of us. I mean the entire team who worked passionately to create something so special and unique. If you are trying to regain lost market share and compete effectively in the Canadian market, these are not the people who should be leaving theScore. . .However, they are the best of the best and I'm confident they will have no problem finding employment in the industry.”
Added Levy: “In fact, if I were back in business, they'd be the first on my list to rehire.”
There was a telling quote in Nightingale’s article from a PENN spokesperson: “These changes reflect the ongoing evolution of our digital business. Under the leadership of key recent product and technology hires, we are structured to advance our online strategy and efficiently grow our business.”
Forgive my obvious bias on this one (and it’s important to note it is Dave Briggs writing this section, not Steve McAllister). I am a journalist who was also let go from a gambling-related company - along with scores of other journalists - because the value of original content was either overlooked or the bean counters scrambling to stop the company’s stock price from tanking thought the journalism did not deliver enough Return on Investment (ROI).
For the record: I’m not bitter about my departure. I had a good run with good people, and I’m thrilled to be where I am now. But my bias is likely the reason I read that PENN spokesperson’s quote to mean a few things:
“Key recent product and technology hires” tasked with improving PENN’s bottom line placed a low value on journalism — or flat out did not understand the role of that journalism — to help that mission.
PENN has now proven with three media partners that it does not know how to maximize the value of those partnerships. That’s on their executives, not the people producing the content. Strange that more of them are not held accountable for the missteps.
Sports betting is a difficult, highly-competitive game and certainly not the panacea pitched to investors.
Journalism is a difficult profession these days in a world of polarization, conspiracy theories and tweets/memes/clips/soundbites (but we already knew that).
Sports betting is going to have a tough sell convincing legislators in regions where it’s not yet legal that the sector delivers enough jobs to justify the negative consequences of gambling expansion. Revenue to invest back in communities and services is great, but never forget: jobs and votes are inextricably linked. The online sector will need to prove it provides significant employment for the sector to be sustainable.
That’s the biggest shame here about theScore layoffs. It was one of the few online gambling operators in Ontario that provided a decent number of jobs in the province, thanks to Levy.
Also, it’s important to note that from the nuggets of real information we get from quarterly business updates, Ontario’s theScore Bet is relatively successful in the province’s ultra-competitive environment. By comparison, it sounds like theScore Bet is doing better in Ontario than ESPN Bet is doing in the U.S.
Meanwhile, it’s difficult to question the success of theScore as a media company. Levy, who spoke with McAllister for a Toronto Star piece back in May 2021 about the incoming expanded legal online sports betting market, methodically built an empire from the dawn of cable television on up. It’s only when it got into bed with PENN that things started to go south.
PENN has struggled to successfully convert media customers. That showed in its epic failure with Barstool — which it sold back to founder Dave Portnoy for $1 — and it continues to show with its inability to successfully transition legions of loyal customers of one of the most prominent sports media brands in North America (ESPN) over to ESPN Bet for a flutter.
Meanwhile, PENN has, so far, failed to use its own in-house tech company to build a betting platform more compelling than the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM.
All of this has several of PENN’s biggest and most impatient investors circling, which likely led to the layoffs more than anything.
On the surface, it should have worked. Take two of the continent’s biggest sports media outlets, draw the eyeballs of people who love sports and then make it easy for them to bet on those sports.
What we’re learning is it’s not that simple. Media companies have struggled for 30 years to figure out how to exist in an Internet world. Now they are struggling to coexist in the gambling landscape, too.
For sure, the plight of theScore’s journalists was further weakened by the economy and tariffs and the fact that advertising is down, in general, as businesses cut costs. Media everywhere is suffering on that front as the landscape has been niched to death, the audiences have splintered into smaller, on-demand, sub-interests and the cost to produce the content has soared.
Yet, we know that the all-powerful Google rewards those that produce original, compelling content and punishes those that either steal it or do lip-service to its creation to masquerade the main mission — to get you to sign up for a sportsbook. So, can you really draw people to gambling platforms with strong SEO tactics alone? Doubtful. But that’s my bias showing again.
I know I’m not alone in searching for strong, authentic, factual reporting. So, maybe, just maybe, those journalists may prove more valuable than we thought.
Let’s hope we’re not too late by the time we realize it.
A message from your earnest editor-in-chief
The Canadian Gaming Summit, or more specifically sitting in Toronto rush-hour traffic for an hour or so on leaving the conference last Thursday, provided some pause for thoughts and consideration as we prepare to say goodbye to June and hello to the summer months. And there was also the debrief meetings, texts and WhatsApp messages over the past several days.
With the blessing of the GNC ownership clan, we have a couple of announcements. Today’s dispatch will be our final one for 14 days, so yours truly and Mr. Briggs can enjoy a week from the keyboard after 46 newsletters and 32 podcasts so far in 2025. Beginning the week of July 7, we will distribute one podcast and one newsletter weekly through July and August.
We are beyond grateful to our subscribers for their continued support of this endeavour to keep them up to speed on what’s happening in the business of sports betting and gaming in our home and native land.
People on the Move
Among the (other) things we learned at last week’s Canadian Gaming Summit was Catherine Meade’s decision recently to step down as Vice President – Community, Sustainability & Social Responsibility and leave OLG after almost a decade. We wish Catherine very, very well in her next chapter.
And speaking of OLG, a tap of ye olde Christian twig to Chair of the Board Jim Warren and his fellow board member Karen Gordon on receiving the King Charles III Coronation Medal.
News from Light & Wonder on Monday that its Chief Legal Officer James Sottile will retire at the end of the year.
David Sargeant is the new Chief Commercial Officer at Forever Network.
After almost 11 years at Betway Group, most recently as Head of Sponsorship and Ambassadors, David Bull is bidding adieu.
Alexander Dao says farewell to Snap Inc. to become the Vice President, Advertising & Sponsorships for Electronic Arts.
Caitriona Redmond is leaving Entain as Global Head of Talent Acquisition after nine years with the company.
Speaking of Entain, former Canada marketing lead for Uber, Joanna Wang, is the new Director, Head of Brand Marketing for the operator’s Sports Interaction and PartyCasino brands.
Ernie Lafky takes his leave from PlayDigital Game to join Black Cow Technology as Chief Product Officer.
Gaming industry veteran Dr. Laila Mintas is joining the European T20 Cricket Premier League as a Director on its board.
Amidst the boardroom bun fight at Penn Entertainment, Johnny Hartnett and Carlos Ruisanchez have been elected to the board that’s keeps changing.
Isabelle Martin, the responsible gaming leader for Loto-Québec, finishes her term as Chair of the Canadian Responsible Gambling Association.
After five years at GamCare, most recently a Programme Manager for the company’s national education and prevention curriculum for young people, Craig de Vos is leaving.
Kirsty Coventry becomes the first female President of the International Olympic Committee, taking the torch from Thomas Bach.
Moira Weinberg is promoted to Executive VP, Investigations & Security at MLB.
Daniel Brusilovsky is the new Chief Technology Officer for the Denver Broncos.
Greg Douglas is promoted at Monitor Deloitte to Senior Manager of its sport business advisory practice.
Mark Vallena is promoted to Associate Vice President, Content Creation at the NBA.
Alan Millar is named as the first General Manager of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.
Chris Hebb has a new title with the BC Hockey League: Chief Strategy Officer.
Classified (Jobs) Information
Among a cornucopia of openings across the editorial and product teams at The Sporting News is one for a Senior Editor, News.
The Curling Group is in hiring mode for five regional freelance writers – including Canada and the U.S. - to work for its Editorial team.
New York-based Overtime is searching for a Senior Producer, Social Branded Content.
Yardbarker has sounded the alarm for both budding and veteran journalists to cover the NHL, NBA, WNBA, NCAA women’s and men’s hoops, and more.
The Chicago Blackhawks are going on a hiring spree in the areas of content, social media and marketing.
The Wall Street Journal is looking to hire a Talent Coach, and a Director for its new Talent Lab.
The San Francisco 49ers are looking for a Team Reporter.
GameTime Digital is hiring a Casino Editor.
Caesars Entertainment has a temporary position for a Content Writer - iGaming.
Fox Sports is looking for a Director, Social to be based in Los Angeles.
The Buffalo Sabres are in the market for a Game Producer.
We came across on LinkedIn a call for editorial help at PokerScout and other gambling websites.
Red Bull has a contract position available in Montreal for a Communcations Manager.
The City of Toronto is also looking for a Communications Manager.
Sport Law has an opening for a Communications and Social Engagement Specialist.
Roots (the Canadian lifestyle brand, not the gaming business) is looking for a Social Media Manager.
The Globe and Mail has an opening for an SEO and Audience Editor.
GeoComply has a plethora of employment opportunities these days around the globe.
Wanted at Betty Gaming: a Head of Social Media. That gig is among 19 openings in Sofia and Toronto for the Ontario-licensed operator.
Rugby Canada wants to bring on board a Manager of Communications and Media Relations.
American Airlines has an opportunity for a Manager, Editorial and Content Strategy.
Hard Rock Digital continues to be on the hunt for a VP – Sportsbook Operations, a Director of Sports CRM Operations and a Real Time Analyst Manager. There is also a hybrid opportunity in Toronto for an HR Business Partner - Social Gaming.
U.S. sweepstakes business Gaming Talent is hiring a Chief Executive Officer – Gaming.
Rare Candy is on the lookout for a Head of Growth (Content & Community focus).
Aristocrat Interactive has an opening for a Vice President, Product Solutions.
Wanted by iGaming Ontario: a Senior Financial Analyst.
EA Sports wants to bring on board at its Vancouver offices a Manager, FC Franchise Activation.
There’s an opportunity in Toronto for a Program Manager – Online Casino.
Bet99 is in search of a Senior Data Analyst.
NorthStar Gaming has its eyes open for a Financial Analyst.
Pinnacle is looking for a Senior Front-end Developer to work out of the city below Nobleton.
BetMGM is in the market for a VP, Media and Growth Marketing, a Multimedia Associate Content Producer, and for a Technology Implementation Manager. And, oh yes, a Senior Analyst – Player Experience and Product.
A good gig alert at OpTic Gaming for a Vice President of Partnerships.
The Responsible Online Gaming Association has an opportunity for a Director of Marketing and Communications.
Wanted by the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation: a Manager, Information Security.
FanDuel is hiring for its New York offices a Legal Operations Associate, and a Counsel Manager, Product Advisory.
Also in the Big Apple, there’s a Senior Responsible Gaming Analyst gig up for grabs at Fanatics.
LeoVegas Group has an opportunity for a UK Risk, Fraud & Payments Manager.
ALT Sports Data has need of a Data Engineer – Sports Betting & Data Infrastructure.
MediaTroopers want to hire a Publishing Account Manager.
There’s a quartet of openings at Strive Gaming’s UK offices.
There is a six-pack of employment opportunities at The Unit.
PointsBet is looking for a Software Engineer to join its team in Melbourne, Australia.
SharpStakes has an Ontario-based opportunity for a Sales & Business Development Intern.
Blizzard Entertainment is hiring a Director of Product Management to work in Barcelona, Spain.
UK-based iConvert has an opening for a B2B Partnerships Manager – iGaming.
Fintech business Tipalti wants to hire a Director, Europe Alliances.
Konami Gaming wants to bring on board a Systems Implementation Specialist.
DraftKings is looking for a Player Props Trader to be based out of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
HoYoverse is in hiring mode for a Senior Brand Partnership Manager in Singapore.
Exacta Solutions is seeking to bring on board a Head of Business Development/Sales.
Paysafe is seeking a People Enablement Coordinator for its Jacksonville, Fla., location.
Choctaw Casinos & Resorts in Durant, Okla., needs a Senior Marketing Manager.
Sports tech startup Ochy is hiring a Head of Business Development in Paris.
Senda Athletics is looking to onboard a Head of Marketing.
The Canadian Olympic Committee is searching for an Intern, Communications, and for an Intern, Game Plan and Athlete Relations.
eBay is hiring a Director, Regulatory Operations for its Toronto offices.
IMG has an opening in London for a Senior Account Manager, Digital (NHL).
Your Toronto Blue Jays are in search of a Senior Manager, Promotions & Activations.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is on the lookout for an Associate Coordinator, Global Partnerships.
The Detroit Lions have an opening for a Partnerships Marketing Manager.
Sports and entertainment agency Dentsu is hiring an Account Director, Consulting.
The United States Tennis Association wants to bring on board a Director, Partnership Marketing.
Movember’s team in Toronto is looking for a Senior Manager, Partnerships.
Wanted at Lacrosse Canada: a Marketing Manager.
There’s a Senior Manager of Special Projects and Partnerships role available with the Sport Integrity Global Alliance.
The Sport Dispute Resolution of Canada is in need of board members.
The Toronto Metropolitan Sports and Business Association has openings for a Marketing Associate & Videographer, a Corporate Relations Director & Associate, and a Director of Events & Conference Associate.
The PWHL Ottawa Charge are looking for a Hockey Operations Coordinator.
The PGA of Canada needs a Coordinator, Employment.
Toronto-based WPP Media is in the market for a Manager, Sport & Entertainment.
The University of Guelph wants to bring on board a Senior Development Manager, Athletics.
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