Gaming News Canada

There’s been a renewed flurry of media coverage lately around the legal gambling industry in the true north, strong and free, including: · An editorial by The Globe and Mail calling on the Justin Trudeau government to pass Bill S-269 before our elected federal officials head home for the holidays:· An interview by Matt Galloway of CBC’s The Current with a problem gambler in the aftermath of a study released by the Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling;· A St. Albert Gazette piece on the relationship between igaming, advertising and problem gambling;· And just yesterday, this “Is the $11 billion online sportsbook bubble about to burst?” tome from the keyboard of David Hill for Rolling Stone. At the same time, the Canadian Gaming Association just made public research it commissioned North American advertising intelligence company MediaRadar to conduct on advertising by operators in Ontario’s regulated market. The research shows a decrease in the amount of advertising spend by operators of online sports betting and gaming products since the province’s market opened its doors in April 2022.Paul Burns, the CGA’s president and CEO, returned to the Gaming News Canada Show to discuss the latest research, and also respond to the latest coverage by the Globe and CBC (the CGA also posted a response on LinkedIn to the Globe editorial). Burns also addressed the efforts the industry have made around responsible gambling while yet again emphasizing the operators’ multi-layered actions to keep children from accessing their products. He also spoke about the challenges in front of advocates of Bill S-269 to have a national framework for sports betting advertising to take effect. He also spoke about the recent Royal Assent given by the Douglas Ford government to the iGaming Ontario Act, which will separate iGO from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. We also asked Burns for his thoughts on what background and skill set the iGO board of directors and its recruiting firm should be seeking in the president and CEO who will replace Martha Otton when the woman responsible for leading the charge to opening the Ontario market in the spring of 2022 retires at year’s end.

The latest financial results released over the past week or so by the likes of Sportradar, Genius Sports, DraftKings,theScore Bet and Flutter Entertainment all refer to the continued increase in activity by sports bettors when it comes to in-play/live wagering. From Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke, in his prepared statements in a call with analysts when the data/technology/broadcast giants put forth its Q3 2024 financials on Tuesday: “In-play wagering now represents 30% of total NFL handle—up from roughly 25% the prior season—representing a meaningful step in the right direction, which we always expected.”  Phill Gray, the former long-time head trader for Sports Interaction and regular guest on the Gaming News Canada Show, returned to the podcast to deliver his thoughts and layers on the expanded in-play and same game parlay betting products, how sportsbooks are creating those markets in real time and the shifting role of traders with the operators. Gray also talked about the three types of bettors today, the acknowledgment by books that the customers did pretty darn well in October, and he offered his take on a new report by Bettometrics analyzing suspension times between top operators for Week 8 of the U.S. college football season, and Week 9 games in the National Football League.  Gray also weighed in on the ongoing debate around limiting, and the overwhelming popularity beyond the United States for wagering on the recent U.S. elections.

While Swifties prepare to gather in Toronto next week for their beloved songstress’s six concerts, the Westin Harbour Castle will be home for three days to leaders in the sports industry from across North America - including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and MLSE president/CEO Keith Pelley – for the 17th annual PrimeTime sports management conference. Among the plethora of panels that will take place beginning Sunday (Nov. 10) is a Developments in Sports Betting discussion with Parleh Media Group CEO/co-founder Mark Silver holding the moderator’s mic. Silver will be joined by Tom Burdakin, the vice president of marketing, Canada, for FanDuel; Daniel Caufield, the head of business development and partnerships at Woodbine Entertainment; Tyler Puley, the director of marketing communications and brand experience at OLG; and Michael Zitney, the director of brand and content for Entain Group.  Ahead of the conference and the Swifties invasion, your humble host made the trip to Toronto this week for a pre-PrimeTime podcast with the aforementioned panelists and Silver. Among the topics covered: Reaction to Tuesday’s announcement that the Senate has sent Bill S-269, aka the National Framework on Advertising for Sports Betting Act, to the House of Commons;The evolving strategies around advertising, marketing and partnerships since Ontario unlocked the door to regulated sports betting and online gaming in the spring of 2022. That included a discussion around the ongoing efforts to integrate sports betting into sports broadcasts and the opportunities that lie ahead in a changing sports rights, broadcasts and streaming landscape.Reaction to the financial results from iGaming Ontario’slatest market performance reportand OLG’s 2023-24 annual report. The challenges and opportunities ahead for Ontario’s regulated operators, OLG and Woodbine.And, of course, we asked Zitney and Burdakin for their thoughts on the road to regulation in Alberta.

These aren’t the best of times for affiliates in the business of gambling, as reflected by the recent news involving XL Media, Catena Media and Better Collective. Straight to the Point publisher/editor Steve Ruddock returned to the Gaming News Canada Show. Ruddock walked us through his experiences in the affiliates industry over the past 15 years, and discussed with your humble host the decision by Catena Media and Better Collective to let go journalists covering the industry and what’s next in the affiliate space. That also led to a lengthy discussion around coverage of the sports betting and gaming industry since the overturning of PASPA by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. The wild and crazy presidential election in the U.S. has attracted the interest of 16 sportsbooks – including OLG - in Ontario’s regulated marketplace. We asked Ruddock about the participation by Robinhood, Kalshi and Polymarket in predicting the Harris-Trump battle, and the potential impact the next U.S. federal government will have on the country’s legal gambling landscape. Last but not least, the debate continues about the competition/collaboration of retail and online gambling, so we asked our guest for his two cents on the topic.

The Responsible Gambling Council recently released its 2023-24 annual report, which included 32 igaming sites across 20 operators being accredited through the council’s RG Check program over the past year, and the Ontario government delivering an unprecedented $9 million investment to the Responsible Internet Gambling Fund over three years. Shelley White, who is leaving the RGC after an eight-year tenure as its chief executive officer at the end of the year, and VP, marketing and communications Elaine McDougall joined us for a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show. White and McDougall dug a little deeper into the latest annual report, and spoke with us about: The ongoing efforts of the council and other stakeholders in the sports betting and igaming industry in Canada and globally to inform and educate people on gambling safely, and the use of artificial intelligence to help amplify messaging in the future;The RGC’s new partnership with Maple Leaf and Sports Entertainment, which debuted last Saturday during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ home opener at Scotiabank Arena;The council’s participation in the creation of a regulated gaming marketplace in Alberta;White’s testimony in front of the Senate transport and communications committee earlier this month on sports betting advertising;The continuing momentum when it comes to women landing executive suite positions across the industry. White also let us know that the RGC is expected to announce her success by the end of November, and gave us some thoughts on her eight-year run. McDougall also spoke about the impact White has had on the council in bringing a much-appreciated cultural shift to the organization and leading its evolution as a business.

Amazon Prime dropped the puck on its NHL digital streaming journey across Canada over the past week, first with the debut of NHL Coast to Coast last Thursday followed by Prime Monday Night Hockey while we were awakening from our Thanksgiving turkey coma. Sports Interaction has a segment in the first hour of the Thursday NHL Coast to Coast broadcast. To learn more about the Homegrown Bet of the Night segment, veteran sports broadcaster David Bastl – now SIA’s chief betting officer – was our guest on the Gaming News Canada Show. Bastl provided more details on the SIA integration (with a helping hand on the production end from Parleh Media Group) into the Amazon Prime hockey broadcasts – Thursday nights deliver a Red Zone-like experience for NHL fans – and revisited his first picks from opening night.  We also asked Bastl about the ongoing evolution of professional sports leagues, rightsholders and sports wagering operators when it comes to integrating betting information and insight into a game broadcast – including The Locker Room show produced by Homestand and available on the Sports Interaction app. He also spoke about his background in media and betting, including his work on the Inside the Lines NFL betting show, and The Mike Richards Show in the early years of TSN Radio.