A year ago, Ontario, Canada, was one of the hottest sports betting markets, but Coolbet’s recent exit has many wondering if the province’s luck is running cold.
Coolbet announced last Thursday that it is shuttering its operations in Ontario on April 3. They shut off all deposit options on March 21 and closed the gaming on March 22.
The company posted on Twitter urging customers to settle their accounts.
“We strongly encourage you to withdraw your funds as soon as possible,” the blog post read. “In case you have not made any withdrawals before, we would require you to verify your bank account that will be used to pay out your remaining balance. Once you have requested the withdrawal please check your email for further instructions on how to complete the verification.”
The site had been one of many that took advantage of Ontario legalizing sports wagering. A spokesperson told Covers.com that it was a business decision.
“Coolbet is focused on maximizing profitability and investing capital and resources into only the highest return regions,” the company said in an email. “Unfortunately, given the competitive nature of the market and the heightened promotional environment we didn’t see a near-term path to profitability, so we are reallocating our resources elsewhere.”
The iGaming market in Ontario is unique in that casinos and sportsbooks let private operators take bets from residents. Other provinces in the country have government-owned lottery and gaming corporations solely running online gambling.
That concept proved to be very popular. Aubrey Levy, senior vice president of marketing and content and head of esports at theScore, told Forbes Magazine last year that the area was extremely desirable.
“Ontario is like 40 percent of the population of the country,” Levy said. “Without question, Ontario is the big prize for now.”
With approximately 14.2 million residents, Ontario is third behind New York and Pennsylvania as territories in North America with online gambling. It is estimated nearly a million people had an online account. The province took in more than $10 billion in money from both sports betting and online casinos.
But the market became oversaturated with operators. There are now more than 70 gaming sites, according to iGaming Ontario. The speculation is that more operators could be pulling out of the area by the end of the year.
Amanda Brewer, Canadian country manager for Unibet-owner Kindred Group, was on a recent episode of Gaming News Canada and said she thought other companies may follow Coolbet’s lead.
“I don’t think this is something necessarily to celebrate, but it is, unfortunately, just the reality of being in a highly competitive and also pretty expensive market right now in North America,” Brewer said.
