Active players double as Ontario online gambling revenue grows by a third in Q1

iGaming Ontario’s Q1 report shows a 31.4% in amounts wagered across all verticals to CA$18.4bn (£10.4bn/€12.3bn/US$13.3bn) in the three months ended 30 June. This also represents a 3.4% improvement on Q4. 

This was underpinned by more player coming into the market. Active player accounts more than doubled to 1.9 million in the quarter, with 50 operators running 80 sites. This beats Q1 2023-24 by 106.5%, and represents a 46.2% on the preceding quarter. Ontario’s average monthly spend per active player account also increased markedly by 44.2% year-on-year to $284.

After winnings and adjustments from promotional spend by licensees, revenue for the quarter increased 34.4% year-on-year to $726m.

To iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton, this shows the success of the province’s regulated online market.

“With 50 regulated operators and a one-third increase in wagering and revenue figures over the first quarter of last year, Ontarians who choose to gamble are finding many enjoyable options in our open regulated igaming market,” iGaming Ontario exectuive director Martha Otton said.

“The revenue generated by Ontario’s competitive igaming market contributes directly to provincial priorities such as infrastructure, healthcare, and education.” 

Online casino dominates Ontario market

Breaking the headline figures down by vertical, online casino dominates, accounting for over 84% of player wagers and nearly 73% of revenue. 

Players wagered $15.5bn on slots, tables games and peer-to-peer bingo, a 33.6% improvement on the prior year. 

As for sports betting, total spend hit $2.5bn. While this surpasses Q1 2023 by 25.0%, it is 7.4% behind the $2.7bn wagered in Q4 last year. It is also the second consecutive quarter of decline of online sports betting handle, even with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers progressing to the Stanley Cup final in June.

However an improved hold of 7.24% meant sports betting revenue was up 31.2% year-on-year to $181m. Ontario’s sports betting hold has traditionally been low, hovering just above 5.5% in the preceding two quarters.

The remaining $402m in wagers were attributed to peer-to-peer poker, up 14.9% year-on-year but 9.9% lower than the final quarter of 2023-24.

Ontario igaming adds to GDP – but ad restrictions are tightening

The Q1 data comes on the back of a recent report that shows Ontario’s commercial igaming sector outperformed certain five-year economic contribution targets set by Deloitte between 2023 and 2024.

Published last month, the report shows the market hit or almost reached many year-five projections within its second year. Excluding the state-backed lottery operator, the sector contributed $2.7bn to GDP and sustained almost 15,000 full time equivalent jobs.

However efforts are underway to roll back industry advertising. Sportsbooks were banned from using celebrities in promotions last August, and efforts to strengthen consumer protections are ramping up. 

Ontario’s online gambling market went live on 4 April 2022 and is soon to be joined by Alberta, which announced plans to liberalise its market in June.