Online gambling in Ontario saw a slight decline in revenue but a slight uptick in wagers for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2023-24.
This information comes as iGaming Ontario released the latest revenue report for the province, which covers July 1 through Sept. 30 of 2023.
According to the report, online gaming drew $14.2 billion in wagers for Q2, a small increase from the $14.0 billion it garnered in Q1 (April 1-June 30, 2023).
However, total gaming revenue dropped from $545 million last quarter to $540 million in Q2.
Sports betting brings Q2 numbers down
When comparing the first quarter to the second, Ontario online gaming is up in most categories.
However, Ontario sports betting is what brought the overall numbers down.
This past quarter saw a 5% decline in sports betting wagers and a 14.5% decline in sports betting revenue. That overshadowed positive gains for Ontario online casinos in terms of revenue and peer-to-peer poker revenue.
Online casino gambling again dominated the quarter, as it accounted for 83.8% of the overall wagers and 75.4% of the overall revenue.
Here’s how the numbers compare from Q1 of Fiscal Year 2023-24 to Q2.
| Online Gambling Category | FY 2023-24 Q1 | FY 2023-24 Q2 | Percentage Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Wagers | $14.0 billion | $14.2 billion | 1.4% |
| Total Gaming Revenue | $545 million | $540 million | -8.3% |
| Active Player Accounts | 920,000 | 943,000 | 2.5% |
| Average Monthly Spend | $197 | $191 | -3.0% |
| Casino Wagers | $11.6 billion | $11.9 billion | 2.6% |
| Casino Revenue | $392 million | $407 million | 3.8% |
| Sports Betting Wagers | $2 billion | $1.9 billion | -5.0% |
| Sports Betting Revenue | $138 million | $118 million | -14.5% |
| P2P Poker Wagers | $350 million | $397 million | 13.4% |
| P2P Poker Revenue | $15 million | $16 million | 6.7% |
| Operators | 46 | 47 | 2.2% |
| Gaming Websites | 71 | 71 | 0% |
It should be noted that Ontario Lottery and Gaming online gambling figures are not included in the iGO revenue reports.
Drastic year-over-year growth remains
Similar to comparing Q1 of last year to this fiscal year, Q2 is seeing similar dramatic growth.
Both total wagers and total gaming revenue more than doubled in comparison to last year’s Q2. That can be thanks to nearly double the operators and nearly 30 more gaming websites.
| Online Gambling Category | FY 2022-23 Q2 | FY 2023-24 Q2 | Percentage Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Wagers | $6.04 billion | $14.2 billion | 135.1% |
| Total Gaming Revenue | $267 million | $540 million | 102.2% |
| Active Player Accounts | 628,000 | 943,000 | 50.2% |
| Average Monthly Spend | $142 | $191 | 34.5% |
| Operators | 24 | 47 | 95.8% |
| Gaming Websites | 42 | 71 | 69.0% |
In Fiscal Year 2022-23, the iGO didn’t disclose revenue by gaming category, instead just revealing overall totals. Thus, we can’t see just how much growth casino gaming has had in the last year compared to sports betting or P2P poker.
READ MORE ABOUT ONLINE CASINOS IN ONTARIO:
Ontario online casino revenue trailing US peers
Ontario’s top online casino competitors in the United States would be Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan.
All three are still awaiting September revenue reports, so we can’t compare direct quarterly results quite yet.
However, we can take the average each has had thus far in the quarter to see where Ontario is stacking up. Casino revenue for Q2 was $407 million. That works out to an average of $135.7 million per month.
Through two months, here’s the average for the other three states:
- Pennsylvania: $164.5 million
- New Jersey: $155.2 million
- Michigan: $152.9 million
While Ontario is lagging behind in average revenue, it is also the youngest market. Michigan is the next youngest online casino market and is still climbing a peak for revenue well into its third year of operation.
