The Ontario online casino and online sports betting industry continued to grow significantly in the third fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2022. This according to numbers released today by iGaming Ontario.
Since launching on April 4 2022, the industry has already surpassed $21.6 billion in total wagers in its first nine months. And total gaming revenue was $886 million.
From October through December, total online gaming revenue was up 71% in Ontario from $267 million in the second quarter (July through September) and up 182% from the Q1 (April through June) total of $162 million.
Additionally, total handle grew by 91% from $6.04 billion in Q2. Handle in Q3 was up 182% from Q1’s handle of $4.076 billion. It is important to note that the numbers do not include figures from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.’s online operations. Nor do they include promotional wagers (bonuses).
The number of active player accounts grew 45% from 628,000 in Q2 to 910,000 in Q3. The number of active player accounts is up 85% from Q1’s total of 492,000. iGO defines active player accounts as: accounts with cash and/or promotional wagering activity and do not represent unique players as individuals may have accounts with multiple operators.
Finally, the average monthly spend per active player account was up 18% from $142 from July through September to $167 in the period between October and December. The average monthly spend is up 48% from Q1’s total of $113.
What’s not included in Ontario’s numbers
There are some important caveats about Ontario’s numbers that need to be stated off the top:
- The revenue numbers do not include figures from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp’s online operations which had a record handle of $511 million in FY 2021-22 and is expected to smash that record when FY 2022-23 concludes.
- The combined numbers do not include revenue from a few well-established grey-market operators that were still doing business in the non-legal market in Ontario through the end of October.
- Ontario’s market is still in its infancy at the nine-month mark.
Also, unlike comparable US jurisdictions, Ontario’s regulator also does not allow the advertisement of bonuses, inducements and credits. One could make an argument that this has a negative impact on customer acquisition and thus, handle and revenue. But since operators are otherwise freely permitted to advertise — and there has been a glut of advertising in Ontario — the jury is still out how much this really impacts the total bottom line. And operators can — and do — offer bonuses, credits and inducements to their customers. They just can’t advertise them. Customers must seek out the operators to find out what they are.
Steady improvement, but still well behind comparable US jurisdictions
That said, compared to the six US jurisdictions that — like Ontario — have both online casinos and sportsbooks, Ontario is still well behind most of them. This despite Ontario having the highest population of the seven jurisdictions and the most live gaming operators.
Though, Ontario is doing better than when both its second quarter and first quarter results were compared to the US.
Converting to US dollars using the Bank of Canada exchange rate listed on Jan. 26, in the first three quarters of operation, Ontario has produced:
- Total handle: $16 billion (does not include promotional wagers (bonuses)).
- Total gaming revenue: $661.5 million.
- Average monthly spend per active player account (average of $105.50 Canadian over nine months): $78.78
That means Ontario still ranks a very distant fourth on the list, despite having the highest population (approx. 15 million) of any of the jurisdictions and the highest number of gaming operators.
Here’s how Ontario’s April-December revenue compares to that of the more established gaming jurisdictions in 2022:
- New Jersey: $1.86 billion
- Pennsylvania: $1.74 billion
- Michigan: $1.53 billion
- Ontario: $661.5 million (USD)
- Connecticut: $332 million
- West Virginia: $129 million
- Delaware: $21 million
Combining all three quarters:
- New Jersey’s revenue was nearly three times higher than Ontario’s.
- Pennsylvania’s revenue was more than 2.5 times higher than Ontario’s.
- Michigan’s revenue was more than double Ontario’s.
Ontario’s Q3 numbers were closer to comparable states
In US dollars, Ontario’s fiscal Q3 numbers were:
- Handle: $8.6 billion.
- Gaming revenue: $341 million.
Here’s how Ontario’s October-December revenue compares to those six US jurisdictions over just those same three months:
- New Jersey: $691 million
- Pennsylvania: $677 million
- Michigan: $584 million
- Ontario: $341 million (USD)
- Connecticut: $135 million
- West Virginia: $53 million
- Delaware: $9 million
In Q2, the numbers were:
- New Jersey: $612 million
- Pennsylvania: $545 million
- Michigan: $485 million
- Ontario: $196 million (USD)
- Connecticut: $105 million
- West Virginia: $43 million
- Delaware: $7.5 million
In Q2 the gap between Ontario and the three biggest of the six US states was:
- $416 million behind New Jersey
- $349 million behind Pennsylvania
- $289 million behind Michigan
The Q3 gap between Ontario and the three biggest of the six US states was:
- $350 million behind New Jersey
- $336 million behind Pennsylvania
- $243 million behind Michigan
That shows Ontario closed the gap, slightly, on the other three in the period from October through December.
Yet, while Ontario (pop. 14.5 million) is doing better, it still has a very long way to go to match the output of New Jersey (9.3 million), Pennsylvania (13 million) and Michigan (10 million).
Number of live online gaming operators by region
Breaking it down, the number of live online gaming operators by region, as of today, is:
- Ontario: 42
- New Jersey: 33
- Michigan: 15
- Pennsylvania: 14
- West Virginia: 6
- Connecticut: 3
- Delaware: 3
In the first quarter, Ontario had 18 operators and 31 total gaming sites. Some operators have multiple sites. In Q2 there were 24 live gaming operators in the province operating 42 total sites. At the end of Q3, there were 36 live operators offering 68 total gaming sites. As of today, there are 42 live operators in Ontario.
The following gaming operators (listed in alphabetical order) are officially regulated and taking bets in Ontario as of Jan, 25, 2023:
| Number | Operator | Launch Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | 888 | April 4, 2022 |
| 2. | Amazon Slots | Late 2023 |
| 3. | Apollo Entertainment (Captain Cooks, Casino Classic, Golden Tiger Casino, Grand Mondial Casino, Luxury Casino, Yukon Gold Casino, Zodiac Casino sites) | Oct. 28, 2022 |
| 4. | Bally Bet | July 20, 2022 |
| 5. | Bet99 | Oct. 31, 2022 |
| 6. | Bet365 | April 4, 2022 |
| 7. | Betano | Oct. 17, 2022 |
| 8. | BetMGM Casino Ontario | April 4, 2022 |
| 9. | BetRivers Casino Ontario | April 4, 2022 |
| 10. | Betsafe | March 2, 2023 |
| 11. | Betty | March 10, 2023 |
| 12. | BetVictor | Sept. 27, 2022 |
| 13. | Betway | Aug. 1, 2022 |
| 14. | bwin | April 12, 2022 |
| 15. | Cadtree (Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Jackpot City, Ruby Fortune, Spin Casino sites) | Aug. 10, 2022 |
| 16. | Caesars Palace Casino Ontario | April 4, 2022 |
| 17. | CanPlay Casino | Oct. 28, 2022 |
| 18. | Casino Days | Jan. 24, 2023 |
| 19. | Casumo | Oct. 28, 2022 |
| 20. | ComeOn! | June 13, 2022 |
| 21. | Conquestador | Jan. 10, 2023 |
| 22 | Deal Or No Deal Casino | Feb. 17, 2023 |
| 23. | Delta Bingo | Early 2023 |
| 24. | DraftKings Casino Ontario | May 18, 2022 |
| 25. | Fallsview | Aug. 4, 2022 |
| 26. | FanDuel | April 4, 2022 |
| 27. | Fitzdares | Feb. 6, 2023 |
| 28. | High Flyer Casino | Dec. 8, 2022 |
| 29. | LeoVegas | April 4, 2022 |
| 30. | Lucky Casino | Nov. 24, 2023 |
| 31. | Lucky Days | Nov. 2, 2022 |
| 32. | Mansion Casino (Play-ON casino.com, Play-ON mansioncasino.com sites) | Nov. 2, 2022 |
| 33. | NorthStar Bets | May 9, 2022 |
| 34. | Party | April 12, 2022 |
| 35. | Pinnacle | Oct. 25, 2022 |
| 36. | PointsBet | April 4, 2022 |
| 37. | PokerStars Casino Ontario | June 28, 2022 |
| 38. | PowerPlay Casino Ontario | April 2023 |
| 39. | Proline (OLG)* | August, 2021 |
| 40. | Rivalry | April 4, 2022 |
| 41. | Rootz (Wildz Casino Ontario, Caxino, Spinz,Wheelz Casino Ontario) | Feb. 2, 2023 |
| 42. | Royal Panda | April 4, 2022 |
| 43. | SkillOnNet (PlayOJO Casino Ontario, Slots Magic Casino Ontario, SpinGenie, KnightSlots sites) | June 13, 2022 |
| 44. | Spin Away | Nov. 2, 2022 |
| 45. | Sports Interaction | Aug. 29, 2022 |
| 46. | Stardust Casino | Latter half of 2023 |
| 47. | STX | July 26, 2023 |
| 48. | theScore Bet | April 4, 2022 |
| 49. | TonyBet | April 2023 |
| 50. | TWHG (Casigo, Casimba, DreamVegas, FireVegas, Gate 777, Hello Casino, Jackpot Village, Playzee sites) | April 4, 2022 |
| 51. | Unibet | April 4, 2022 |
| 52. | Video Slots Ltd. (Video Slots, Mr. Vegas) | June 19, 2023 |
| 53. | WSOP | Sept. 30, 2022 |
