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Ontario sports betting market flourishing; other provinces closely monitoring

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If you reside in Ontario, it has been difficult to avoid mentioning sports betting. You’ve probably seen the advertisements and heard the hoopla since the province opened its regulated online gambling market a year ago, and at this point you know how to participate.

In 2021, Canada legalized single-event sports betting, but Ontario was the first province to implement a regulated sports betting system that would enable numerous operators to offer legitimate, online sports gambling services. Numerous Ontarians are enthralled by this more open world of sports betting, and as a result, more than twenty organizations are competing for this sports-related niche of the larger provincial online gambling industry.

However, as the product offerings develop and the market matures, industry analysts and operators predict more changes for sports betting in Canada in the near future.

High revenue

After a year, the Ontario government still seems pleased with the health of the regulated online gaming sector, which has operators providing sports betting services along with casino and poker activities as well as top betting apps. According to a Ministry of the Attorney General spokesperson, Ontario’s “safe, legal, and competitive online gaming market” fosters business possibilities, safeguards consumers, and generates income that “helps pay for government priorities.”

The first, second, and third quarters of the first year of the online gambling sector each saw billions of dollars in bets placed, according to data from iGaming Ontario (iGO), a division of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The public does not yet have access to fourth-quarter statistics.

However, the percentage of these wagers that are solely from sports betting is not broken down in these totals. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), which keeps track of its own sports betting transactions, is not included in these totals either. In its annual report for 2021–2022, it states that OLG’s PROLINE+ brand handled $1 million in bets just days after single-event betting became available, months before the opening of the broader regulated market.

Other provinces are closely monitoring the Ontario market

Other provincial governments are interested in learning from Ontario’s experience, notably Alberta, which has just one legal gambling website operating right now.

The communications manager for Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), Karin Campbell, told CBC News that PlayAlberta.ca “has witnessed tremendous growth since launching its sports offering” a year and a half ago. She attributed this to the associated betting activities as well as newly accessible online lottery services.

The regulator, according to Campbell, is “supporting the successful and legal implementation of an expanded sports betting market” and is closely watching Ontario’s market developments.

Single-event sports betting is also attracting many customers on PlayNow.com, British Columbia’s only legal, regulated gambling website, in which punters placed $170 million on sports wagers in the first year of legalized online gambling.

The bulk of sports wagers on the site are single-event bets, according to Matt Lee, a spokesperson for the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. Lee stated that the lottery organization “continues to evaluate what sports-betting experiences” may be provided in the future given the interest in these services.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation is the sole authorized supplier of single-event sports betting in Atlantic Canada. Greg Weston, the spokesperson for the institution, stated that “sales have been strong since the option became available.”

As time goes on, Peter Czegledy, a partner at Toronto’s Aird & Berlis LLP and the head of its gaming division, believes that “Ontario will not be alone” in enabling private operators to compete with long-established government operators in online gambling, including sports betting. But he said that the strategy can vary depending on the jurisdiction.

The journey ahead

Some industry observers predict that over time, there will be fewer enterprises competing in Ontario’s market.

A core number of large enterprises will ultimately emerge, according to Michael Naraine, an associate professor in Brock University’s Department of Sport Management in St. Catharines, Ontario. He anticipates that there will be some consolidation and some failures.

Naraine predicted that there will eventually be seven or eight significant firms, citing Coolbet’s recent exit as evidence that the market’s current composition would not be long-term viable.

According to Czegledy, it’s conceivable that additional operators will enter and leave the Ontario market in the future. Nevertheless, according to him, a more pertinent query is “what categories of operators have or have not undergone regulation, and what proportion of the market they make up”. He concluded that, according to those metrics, Ontario has done well thus far.

 

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The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

  • the draft dragged on for hours;
  • there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
  • frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

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60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

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When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

 

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.

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