iGaming Ontario released the group’s latest update on online revenue in the province for the second quarter last week and reported a major increase from the same time in 2022. From July 1 – Sept. 30, the market saw $14.2 billion in wagers for total gaming revenue of $540 million.
Tht equated to an increase of 132% and a 105% increase in total revenue from the second quarter of 2022. The report includes results from the province’s 47 operators encompassing 71 websites.
In other Canadian casino news, Atlantic Lottery also reported major revenue and rising profits for the last year overall as well.
Ontario iGaming Continues to See Big Numbers
The second quarter report in Ontario also noted 943,000 active player accounts for the time period. These included accounts with cash or promotional wagering activity, but doesn’t represent unique players as some may have accounts with multiple operators. The survey found that the average monthly spend per active player reached $191.
When broken out into individual gaming segments, online casino gaming was by far the most popular option for Ontario players. Here’s a look at totals by category:
- Online casino gaming – $11.9 billion wager with $407 million in revenue
- Online sports betting – $1.9 billion wagered with $118 million in revenue
- Online poker – $397 million wagered for a rake/revenue of $16 million
The regulated Ontario online gaming market launched on April 4, 2022. After the first year of operation more than 85% of online gamblers in the province made use of legal sites in the province, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The market continues to grow and has become one of the most successful iGaming market launches in North America.
“Since its launch in April 2022, Ontario’s iGaming market has displaced the existing unregulated market and made Ontario an internationally recognized leader in this industry,” Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey said. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible, competitive online gaming model.”
Atlantic Lottery Also Reports Rising Profits
In other Canadian gaming revenue news, Atlantic Lottery released the company’s annual report for 2022-23. The group regulates and offers lotto and iGaming in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Atlantic Lottery is pleased to be able to contribute to our regional economy by returning 100% of profit to the provincial governments,” President and CEO Patrick Daigle said. “In fact, 92 cents out of every lottery dollar stayed in Atlantic Canada in 2022-23 thanks to a combination of prize money, employee salaries and benefits, retailer commissions and regional operations. We were also proud to support many diverse community events over the past year through sponsorship and volunteering.”
The organization reported profits of $492.2 million in profit over the last year, including $262.8 million from the destination line of business and $229.4 million from retail and iLottery. Here’s a look at revenue by province:
- Nova Scotia – $160.4 million
- New Brunswick – $153.9 million
- Newfoundland and Labrador – $148.6 million
- Prince Edward Island – $29.3 million
Atlantic Lottery also awarded $440.1 million in prizes to winners from across the region, an increase from the previous year. Net profit surpassed the budgeted amount for the year by $32.2 million with the continued growth of the group’s online gaming platform. Making gamblers in the provinces aware of Atlantic Lottery’s legal iGaming options remains a major point of emphasis.
“While we are pleased by the continued growth in our iLottery business line, we remain concerned about the growing presence of illegal gambling sites in our region,” Daigle said. “Players are not always aware that these illegal gambling sites are not accountable to government regulators, and their profits do not remain in our region. Atlantic Lottery is proud to be the only legal and government-regulated provider of online gambling and sports-betting products in Atlantic Canada.”
Daigle also noted some of Atlantic Lottery’s healthy play and social responsibility accomplishments. One of those includes a new Healthy Play Policy, clearly identifying responsible gambling tools available online and helping players spot warning signs of potentially unhealthy behaviors.
“We are proud to be recognized for going above and beyond to encourage healthy play by leading accreditation programs,” he said. “This commitment is at the forefront of everything we do, from providing world-class tools and resources to our players; to providing responsible gambling training to employees, retailers and Video Lottery operators; to implementing compliance monitoring to ensure age verification protocols are followed.”
Founded in 1976, Atlantic Lottery is publicly owned by the Atlantic provinces and returns 100% of its profit to the four provincial governments. The corporation has returned more than $10 billion in total profit to the region since its inception.
