Ontario’s first sports betting exchange, STX, is adding more markets for local bettors to choose from. Most recently, the platform debuted NCAA and NFL football contracts with moneylines, spreads, and totals. The company also shared some of its big plans for the future, including a vision of turning the province into a global sports betting hub.
STX is not a traditional sports wagering operator as an exchange it allows its players to determine the odds of a betting market and wager against each other instead of going with the usual betting against a sportsbook. One of its positives that is has lower fees than the ones featured at classic sports betting platforms. Ontarians can check it out themselves as it is online in the province.
Seeking Liquidity
In an interview, the founder of the exchange, Justin Deutsch commented that the platform which debuted in Ontario in July 2023 will include more sports betting markets in the future, including props and futures. He said the focus is to continue to be liquidity first and then when it gets liquidity and demand for new markets, it will be very fast to introduce new. Projections are early 2024.
Furthermore, Mr. Deutsch explained that the company is in the process of adding political betting and it should be available within a month. He noted that the firm considers itself a tech company, and not a regular bookmaker, and it can apply its exchange model to a wide selection of other products. But they start with sports betting, due to its current demand and space for innovation.
As an exchange, the platform enables users to buy and sell contracts for sports outcomes, and the price of these fluctuates between CA$0 and CA$100 before the game ends. Therefore, those who hold the contracts will get paid the full CA$100 or nothing. The non-traditional sportsbook makes money by taking a cut of the winning wagers, but it also considers other revenue streams.
The platform is attractive to bettors who seek the best odds, and it has an average bet of around CA$1,000, shared Mr. Deutsch. This is probably far more sizeable than what other retail sportsbooks handle. The found also noted that the exchange’s model means that some of its markets will have materially the best price available on one side or the other for a game.
Fantasy
However, STX’s growth plans are dependent on Ontario’s regulatory framework, which requires all players to be physically located in the province when gaming online. This caused limited fantasy sports contests in the province. Unfortunately for DFS enthusiasts, due to the smaller player pools DraftKings and FanDuel suspended fantasy service in the jurisdiction.
Lastly, Mr. Deutsch said the focus was on a long-term strategy for free-market principles in a regulated environment, where the province can access global liquidity and become a hub of it. In his words, this would be a game-changer for the industry, instead of just being one of the other 52 sportsbooks in the market and fighting over the consumers for that same money.
