The freshly regulated Ontario igaming and sports betting market could be worth ‘billions in five years’ according to Amanda Brewer, Canadian Country Manager for Kindred Group.
Speaking to SBC Media at SBC Summit North America last year, Brewer noted that the legalization of igaming and sports betting in Ontario will hopefully bring in a high level of economic activity in the province, with a ‘more open’ market than many US states.
When asked for her predictions for Ontario over the next five years, Brewer remarked: “I’m hoping that it can prove some of the estimates right. We’ve seen Eilers and Krycek publish some estimates and I know some of the accounting firms like Deloitte are working on them too so it could be in the billions within five years.
“The tax rate will hopefully stay low and we’ll hopefully get some channelization coming through with the operators. So the hope is that there’s a lot of economic activity that gets generated by Ontario because it won’t necessarily be the largest market from a population base. California is about to come on in the states, New York is about to go live (New York went live in January 2022), but it will be a very open market. It will have way more products in Ontario that you are seeing in the states right now.”
Brewer took part in the regulator process which saw single-event sports betting become legal across Canada and was particularly watchful of the Ontario market, which is set to open on April 4.
She shared her thoughts on the ‘robust’ nature of the market’s legislation that will allow operators to provide a ‘full suite’ of sports betting and igaming products.
“We have the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario which is the registrar and they’ve got their standards online so any operators interested in getting a license can go onto their website and pull down the standards,” she added, explaining the regulatory background of the bill. “The application window is open so operators are going in and starting to get licenses, including Kindred.
“On the other side there is iGaming Ontario because of the way our criminal code works for gaming, operators are going to get a license first with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission and they’re then going to sign a commercial contract with iGaming Ontario.”
