Ontario’s online gambling manager has reported considerable year-over-year growth.
According to data provided by iGaming Ontario, Canada’s most populous province reported a total gambling handle of $18.4 billion in Q2 2024, a 31% increase compared to the same period last year. Ontario’s handle in Q2 saw its 50 operators generate $726 million in total gaming revenue during the period, a 34% uptick compared to Q2 2023. These numbers include online casinos, sports betting and poker.
Those licensed operators reported nearly 1.9 million active player accounts in Q2 2024. By comparison, total active player accounts in Q2 2023 reached approximately 920,000.
iGaming drives profits in Ontario
Ontario’s results in Q2 2024 were spearheaded by casino games, which include slots, live and computer table games, and peer-to-peer bingo. In Q2, players across Ontario wagered $15.5 billion on casino games making up roughly 84% of total wagers placed in the province. During last year’s second quarter, casino game handle closed at $11.6 billion.
The casino games allowed operators in Q2 to generate $529 million in gaming revenue making up 73% of total revenue. In Q2 2023, casino game revenue reached $393 million.
Ontario sports betting maintains pace
In Q2 2024, the province reported favorable results from sports betting with total wagers closing at $2.5 billion. By comparison, patrons spent $2 billion with sportsbooks in Q2 2023.
Sports betting, which includes exchange wagering, generated $181 million in gaming revenue in Q2 2024, up from $181 million for the same period last year. Ontario sportsbooks benefited in Q2 2024 from a Canadian team, Edmonton Oilers, making an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. The series between the two teams would go to seven games with the Panthers winning their first Stanley Cup.
Poker takes a step back in Ontario
P2P poker in Ontario posted a lukewarm handle in Q2 2024 with accepted wagers closing at $402 million. The results showed an improvement from the $350 million handle reported in Q2 2023 but it is a drop from the $446 million handle posted in Q1 2024. Some of the period does overlap with the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Many poker pros travel to the states for the event and could explain some of the dip.
Poker generated $16 million in revenue in Q2 2024, up from $15 million for the same period last year.
Ontario exceeding expectations
The results from iGaming Ontario follow a report published in partnership with Deloitte that suggests Ontario’s commercial iGaming market is performing better than expected.
Since Ontario went live with sanctioned iGaming in 2022, online commercial gaming has generated more than $4 billion in economic value for the province. Deloitte projected a year-10 GDP of roughly $4.7 billion in Ontario from commercial gaming. Ontario is projected to surpass Deloitte’s estimates in its next market performance report.
Commercial gaming has also created an additional 15,000 jobs across Ontario.
