In just one year, the new legal iGaming market in Ontario has delivered about $35.6 billion in total wagers and approximately $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue, placing the province among the top five iGaming jurisdictions in North America.
iGaming Ontario is thrilled to announce these totals to mark the open market’s one-year anniversary. Ontario was the first Canadian province to launch an open, regulated iGaming market on April 4, 2022. Since then, more than 1.6 million active player accounts on websites run by 40+ operators with agreements with iGaming Ontario have made the province the most competitive market in continental North America.
“Ontario’s iGaming market has displaced the pre-existing unregulated market and made Ontario a recognized leader internationally in this industry since its launch in April of 2022,” the Attorney General of Ontario, Doug Downey, said. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible and competitive online gaming model. I want to especially commend the strong leadership of Executive Director Martha Otton, Board Chair Dave Forestell and the rest of the team at iGaming Ontario for helping us transform Ontario into a global leader in the sector.”
“Today’s numbers demonstrate that Ontario has one of the best online gaming markets in the world,” said Forestell. “Since Ontario opened the market, we have seen new investment, job creation and captured revenue that used to leave the province. Ontario is well on its way to becoming the best gaming jurisdiction in the world.”
“Every player who places a wager with a legal operator is doing so in a safe, regulated and protected environment,” said Otton. “I want to thank the players, our 40+ operators and our government partners for placing their trust in us. Together we can help this market continue its strong performance.”
Digging into player choices and market trends over the last year:
*On average, iGaming Ontario numbers show the monthly spend per active player account over the last year to be about $70.
*According to an Ipsos survey conducted in March 2023 and released today by the AGCO, around 85% of respondents who gambled online in Ontario over the past three months gambled on regulated sites.
*The most popular sport to bet on was basketball at 28% of betting wagers followed by soccer at 15%, football at 14%, then hockey at 9% and baseball at 8%.
*Within the online casino category, nearly half (48%) of all casino wagers were on slots, nearly a third (32%) on table games with a live dealer and the remainder (19%) on computer-based table games.
Quotes
Bet365:
“As one of the first companies to join Ontario’s regulated iGaming market, we welcome that our ongoing relationship with iGaming Ontario has allowed us to offer a quality product for our customers in a safe and responsible environment. We look forward to working together into the future to continue to raise standards in the regulated market.”
George Sweny, Regulatory Affairs Vice-President for Flutter International:
“At Flutter, we are so proud of Ontario’s success in establishing a regulated and competitive iGaming market over the past year. We invested in growing our local Canadian team to launch a full range of both FanDuel and PokerStars’ safe and trusted products as registered operators in the province, allowing Ontario sports fans and Casino players to engage responsibly.
Bruce Caughill, Canada Managing Director for Rush Street Interactive:
“It has been an exciting first year for BetRivers in the province. We have enjoyed a positive and receptive response from customers to our many products. It has been great collaborating with iGaming Ontario, who has been instrumental in making this launch a success for all stakeholders.
Benjie Levy, President and Chief Operating Officer for theScore and Head of Penn Interactive:
“As Canada’s first province to establish a legal market for private operators, Ontario has distinguished itself while proving the widespread benefits that derive from a consumer friendly and commercially minded framework.”
