Three months into the Ontario, Canada sports betting market, most residents are not taking advantage of the new form of gaming. The competitive market launched April 1.
A survey of 1,222 people evenly divided between men and women and conducted by Canada Sports Betting in July showed that 55 percent were not aware of the launch, and of those who said they were interested, 55.5 percent said they had not taken advantage of the market to bet. Another 10 percent said they wager monthly and 8.7 percent said they place bets every day.
More alarmingly for the industry, 46.9 percent said they had no interest in sportsbooks at all and 13.9 percent said they were very interested.
JD McNamara, county director, Canada, for Canada Sports Betting and Better Collective, told CDC Gaming Reports that this is to be expected in a new market. “A lot of the discussion at the beginning of the market is market focused and not necessarily consumer focused,” he said.
The fact that so many of the respondents didn’t know about the new market, he said, “. . .tell us we have a large percentage of people who’re interested in betting but haven’t got into the market yet.” He added, “And the belief is it’s a lack of clarity, a lack of education thus far in the market for them.”
iGaming Ontario recently released its first report on the first quarter of operations, ending June 30. It reported that sports betting in the province generated $162 million in revenues from 492,000 player accounts and that online gaming platforms accepted $4.076 billion in wagers.
The market began with 18 operators and 31 iGaming websites. Now there are 26, including Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
