For a time, OLG’s site was the only legal source of online sports betting in Ontario. Now, however, it faces an expanding festival due to a regulated iGaming market in the province.
The expansion of internet gambling profits has slowed at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, and the arrival of more than 20 other online sports sites in the province may be the reason.
Ontario’s auditor general released its latest annual report on Wednesday, which included the bankruptcy of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) government corporation and its activities, such as its Internet gaming website.
For a time, OLG’s site was the only legal source of online sports betting in Ontario. But, in April, Canada’s most populous province introduced a regulated iGaming marketplace that also allows personal sector operators to place bets, and more than 30 have done so.
One of the findings of Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s most recent report is that the expansion of OLG’s online gaming earnings has slowed with access from personal sector operators. With OLG’s iGaming revenue growing from $139 million in 2019-2020 to $511 million in its 2021-2022 fiscal year (which ended March 31), it looks like maintaining that speed will be challenging.
The GA report indicates that revenue from OLG iGaming, Internet lottery games, increased 7%, from $101 million from April to June 2022 to $108 million from July to September.
Meanwhile, profits from Ontario’s new iGaming marketplace (which comes with OLG because the company operates and manages its gaming business on its own) rose from $162 million in the first quarter to $267 million in the second, a 65% buildup.
In other words, OLG’s quarterly expansion in iGaming earnings is much weaker than the expansion that has occurred in the personal iGaming market. OLG’s year-over-year expansion is also weaker, with profits from non-lottery online games reaching $108 million for the current government quarter. of fiscal 2022, compared to $77 million for the same three months of 2021, a cumulative of approximately 40%.
“There would be a significant gain for the province if OLG’s Internet gaming earnings could be maximized,” the GA report said, adding that “the province receives approximately 45% of OLG’s Internet gaming earnings, versus only 5. 7% of Internet gaming earnings. “. ” on personal internet platforms registered with iGaming Ontario.
The report goes on to say that OLG expects to retain approximately 25-30 per cent of Ontario’s online gaming market and forecasts revenue of $530 million (not including lottery sales) through 2025-2026, or 56 per cent more. Non-iGaming lottery revenue for 2021-2022.
“The strategic projects on which OLG bases its forecasts come with faster new product launches; table with a live runner handing out cards or spinning the roulette wheel; direct payment from iLottery; and other visitor acquisition and retention activities,” the document says. OLG is lately also working with British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta to offer live board games on its internet platform.
OLG expanded a “comprehensive strategy” to launch new products, continue to explore features for more real-time games such as poker in partnership with other provinces, and use its position as a lottery product provider to sell players on iGaming. According to the report, 56% of OLG iGaming players only buy lottery tickets.
“This is a merit that OLG can leverage to attract more players to its casinos and sports offerings,” the AG study said. Methods are physically powerful to achieve the expansion you have projected.
OLG agreed in the report that it is vital to remain competitive in the world of iGaming and said that it has used this exercise for its online bookmaker, PROLINE, among others.
It did, the government-owned company said, adding more markets and features for players.
“OLG plans to expand its live broker category and lately is exploring the implementation of new products such as peer-to-peer poker,” Crown added. “OLG will also seek additional growth through the introduction of its top lottery players to other online gaming products introduced through OLG, and will come with this ‘cross-play’ metric as a key functionality indicator for functionality control purposes in the upcoming fiscal year. “
The release of Lysyk’s report (which has a lot more to say about OLG and iGaming) comes the same week that a lawsuit was filed against the provincial government in relation to its new internet gaming market. cut, aim to dismantle the regulated market as it is built lately.
Arguing that it is the operators and a government company that manage iGaming’s games in the new Ontario market, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke questions the legality of the regulatory framework with its judgment, which the Auditor General herself warned could happen.
If successful, the council states that “Ontario will be forced to return to the drawing board and adopt a lottery formula that complies with the Penal Code. “