This week, iGaming Ontario issued its latest quarterly report on the province’s open and competitive online casino market for private operators. For the first quarter of 2023-2024, or the period between April 1 through June 30, 2023, the province handled the online betting volume of CA$14 billion. This translated into CA$545 million in gaming revenue.
Ontario’s iGaming framework for third-party operators launched on April 4, 2022, and it is the first of this kind for Canada. Operated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and its subsidiary iGaming Ontario, the sector aims to eliminate grey market operations, establish a safe playing space for Ontarians, and keep some of the revenue within the province.
Q1 in Numbers
This fiscal year marks the first full one for the Ontarian market and Q1 is off to a great start. It reported CA$14 billion in online wagering activity and CA$545 million in gaming revenue. At the end of the quarter, there were 46 operators online, which ran 71 gaming websites. There were 920k active user accounts, which had an average monthly spend of CA$197.
To break numbers even further down, the total wagering handle was compiled of casino games, including slots, live and computer-based table games and peer-to-peer bingo which accounted for nearly CA$11.6 billion or 83% of total wagers. It translated to CA$392 million or 72% of the gaming revenue reported by the province for Q1 of 2023-2024.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter, betting on sports, eSports, and novelty bets contributed CA$2 billion or 14% of the total gaming handle and CA$138 million or 25% of the proceeds. Then, peer-to-peer poker accounted for CA$350 million or just 3% of total wagers and CA$15 million or 3% of the gaming revenue.
Celebrating One Year of iGaming
Earlier this year, the Province of Ontario celebrated the first anniversary of its iGaming market. For its first 12 months of operations, the sector clocked CA$35.6 billion in total gambling handle. The total volume turned into CA$1.4 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, active player accounts had a monthly average spend of CA$70.
A survey discovered that in the online casino segment, almost half of all gamblers preferred slots, as they accounted for 48% of the iCasino volume. Meanwhile, nearly a third of the casino play or 32% was captured by table games with a live dealer. Then the remainder or the rest 19% went to computer-based table games.
But that is not all, as the regulated sector of digital gambling delivered other benefits such as job creation. A report by Deloitte found that it provided more than 1,800 direct jobs. Those positions had an average of CA$103,000 in annual compensation, which is around 41% higher than the Ontario average one of CA$73,000. In addition to that, the market generated another 7,900 indirect jobs
Source: “iGaming Ontario’s FY 2023-24 Q1 Market Performance Report” iGaming Ontario, July 19, 2023
