The Canadian province of Manitoba is having to scale back its expectations for cashing in on online gambling.
Officials predicted the site would generate C$1.5 million in net revenues in its first year and grow to $17 million annually by 2018. But in the six-month period that ended Sept. 30, the site netted the province only $300,000. Revenues were $1.8 million while expenses totaled $1.5 million.
“It’s a very, very competitive market, and whether we entered it late or not, the fact is there are choices customers are always going to make in any sort of commerce, including e-commerce,” Andrea Kowal, a spokeswoman for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, said. “There are a lot of other sites out there that Manitobans can play on.”
Part of the problem so far, Kowal said, is that bingo games and lottery tickets were not ready when the site launched.
Manitoba went live last year with its branch of Playnow.com, which is operated by British Columbia’s lotteries agency. British Columbia got into online gambling in 2010, and now makes about $30 million annually from Playnow. The Ontario government is preparing to launch some form of online gambling later this year.
The number of people registered on the Manitoba site has grown to about 9,000 from 4,000 in the last six months, and Kowal said, “We’re still very positive about the product. It is something that is growing steadily.”
