TLDR
- Ontario sports betting revenue fell 30% in August to CA$54.4 million.
- Casino wagering reached CA$8.78 billion, a record 90% share of total handle.
- Total wagering dipped 1% to CA$9.74 billion, while total revenue fell 4%.
- Active player accounts dropped 11% to 1.208 million.
- Regulators fined three operators a combined CA$290,000, and Fanatics gained approval to enter the market.
Sports betting revenue in Ontario’s regulated online gambling market fell 30% in August compared with July. At the same time, online casino games took a record share of all wagers placed in the province.
Total wagering reached CA$9.740 billion for the month, according to new data from iGaming Ontario. That was down 1% from CA$9.884 billion in July.
Total non-adjusted gross gaming revenue, or NAGGR, fell 4% to CA$396.3 million. NAGGR is the money operators keep from gambling before bonuses, taxes, fees, and other costs are taken out.
Sports Betting Slows in a Quiet Month
Sports betting handle came in at CA$843 million, a 15% drop from July. That gave sports betting a 9% share of total wagers.
The decline followed the end of the World Cup. Most major sports leagues were also on a break for much of August.
Sports betting revenue was CA$54.4 million, down 30% from the month before. That made up 14% of total market revenue.
Active player accounts fell 11% to 1.208 million. However, average revenue per active account rose 8% to CA$328.
Casino Games Reach Record Market Share
Casino handle was CA$8.776 billion, about the same as in July. That was 90% of all wagers, the highest share for casino games since the regulated market launched in April 2022.
Casino revenue rose 2% to CA$336.3 million. Casino games accounted for 85% of total revenue.
Peer-to-peer poker saw CA$122 million in cash wagers, up 5% from July. Poker revenue rose 6% to CA$5.6 million. Each figure represented about 1% of the market.
The market currently has 49 licensed operators. Together, they run 84 gaming websites that are live and accepting wagers.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) issued penalties to three companies in August. The fines totaled CA$290,000.
On Aug. 6, Betty Gaming was fined CA$120,000. Failures in its age-verification and eligibility checks allowed 23 people under 19 to open accounts on Betty.ca.
On Aug. 20, Booming Games was fined CA$70,000. The regulator said a banned auto-play feature was available on several of its Ontario slot games for months.
On Aug. 27, NorthStar Gaming received a CA$100,000 fine. The penalty related to alleged anti-money laundering failures involving one high-risk player’s account.
Fanatics also received regulatory approval in August to launch in Ontario. The company still needs to finalize an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario before it can go live.
