Ontario sports fans are quite keen on betting on the NFL and the latest reports from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation further confirm it. According to the OLG, last week the top five betting events on its PROLINE brand were all NLF games. This includes the Cincinnati Bengals’ 24-18 win over the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs’ 21-14 victory over Miami Dolphins.
OLG is a state-run agency that offers gambling and sports betting in a responsible manner while also returning 100% of its profits to Ontario. Via its PROLINE brand, the Crown corporation offers legal sports betting at retail locations across the province. Its sports wagering brand is also available online on OLG.ca under the PROLINE+ tab.
Breaking Down Bettors’ Picks
As per data from OLG, 62% of the bettors picked Cincinnati minus-1.5 while just 24% of patrons opted for a total under 49.5 points. In the meantime, 58% correctly predicted minute-1.5. However, only 18% of bettors had a total under 50.5 points. Also, the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory against the Dallas Cowboys as 70% of punters had Philadelphia on minus-2.5 points.
Meanwhile, Ontario players had a nervous Monday in terms of hockey, as the Toronto Maple Leafs played the Tampa Lightning. The latter got to a 4-1 lead after the first period before Toronto managed to scrap a 6-5 victory in overtime. Approximately 68% of the bettors had Toronto winning the contest while 80% went for the total over 6.5 goals.
A day prior to that, the basketball fans from the province watched the Toronto Raptors take on the San Antonio Spurs. The local team managed to overcome a 22-point deficit to come on top with a 123-116 overtime win. However, just 19% of the PROLINE bettors had Toronto at minus-5.5 points while 60% of the punters correctly took the total over 224.5.
OLG shared that an online PROLINE bettor won a CA$15,843 payout from a CA$20 wager on a 12-pick U.S. college basketball parlay. Meanwhile, a successful 10-pick NLF parlay resulted in another user getting a cool CA$5,932 payout from a CA$10 bet. Lastly, a CA$15 wager on a six-pick mixed parlay gave cash out of CA$2,997 to a retail bettor.
Recapping Numbers and Highlights from 2022-23
Last month, OLG published its annual report for the fiscal 2022-2023. It disclosed that its retail PROLINE delivered CA$293 million in revenue and accounted for 7% of lottery numbers. Interestingly enough, its PROLINE revenue remains similar to the previous fiscal year, despite the debut of the new iGaming framework for private operators in Ontario on April 4, 2022.
Another important highlight from 2022-23 was the launch of a new sports betting app. It combines bet-building functionality for in-store purchases with direct online wagering into one integrated application. Users can place and pay for live bets in real-time on the new PROLINE+ or create wagers and generate a barcode on the app which can be used to purchase tickets at retail locations.
Source: “National Football League continues to dominate Proline player interest” Toronto Star, November 8, 2023
