Ontario’s iGaming market soars in year two with record wagers

Online wagering in Ontario experienced a tremendous expansion in its second year of operation. The total wagered amount surged from CAD 63 billion to CAD 115 billion, a 78% increase from the previous year. In light of recent statistics released by iGaming Ontario (iGO), a regulatory authority, this spurt prominently exemplifies the rapidly developing trend of iGaming in the most populous province in the United States.

In the first year of operation, which started on April 4, 2022, the iGaming market had bets totaling almost $35.5 billion. According to iGO, these numbers do not account for bonuses and free bets that players get and subsequently gamble. Revenue from gaming reached $2.4 billion in the 2023–24 fiscal year, up 72% from the previous year, as per the agency. The first year of the iGaming sector brought in around $1.4 billion in revenue, with the province keeping about 20% and operators keeping the rest. 

According to Martha Otton, the Executive Director of iGaming Ontario, the second year in the iGaming Ontario market witnessed $63 billion in wagering and $2.4 billion in gaming revenue, which is an increase of over 70% compared to the first year. As the market enters its third year of success, Ontario operators can confidently provide gaming entertainment to Ontarians while constructing a solid foundation.

These numbers will not reflect the online gambling activities of the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., as well as horse race betting. Moreover, they disregard that OLG has redirected bettors from Ontario’s illegal “grey market” sites to licensed provincial platforms. This transition sees the completion of two years of Ontario’s iGaming regulatory model, which is in contrast to other Canadian provinces that have been used to government monopolization of online gaming.

The Ontarian gaming industry has seen tremendous growth in authorized online gambling providers, which have developed from one to almost 50, and 70 options are available to residents aged nineteen and above. During the recently concluded financial year, bets on online casino sites amounted to approximately $51.7 billion, while sportsbooks and poker rooms accounted for $9.7 billion and $1.6 billion respectively.

The revenue breakdown shows the power of online casinos, as they generated $1.8 billion only from slots and table games. Sports and event betting accounted for $588 million, and poker generated another $67 million in revenue.

In March, over 1.3 million active players transacted on the platform, with an average monthly spend of $263 per player, demonstrating a solid level of market participant engagement.

Moving forward, Ontario will persist in its pursuit of expansion in the iGaming sector. The provincial government is in pursuit of a legal opinion in order to facilitate betting between local participants and international bettors. By attracting daily fantasy sports operators back and establishing an online poker segment, the advertising campaign will contribute to the overall improvement of the iGaming landscape in Ontario.