Canadian online gaming and media company NorthStar Gaming continued to grow in the second quarter of 2025, posting yet another double-digit revenue increase.
Revenue for the three months ended June 30 was $8.5 million, 15% higher than it was in Q2 2024. That revenue includes money made from gaming and managed services, minus bonuses, promotional costs and free bets. In particular, managed services revenue more than doubled year over year.
Gross margin was at $3.5 million, up 25% year over year from $2.8 million. Marketing spend fell 16% from last year and represented 35.8% of revenue compared to almost half of revenue in Q2 2024.
NorthStar’s revenue growth is even better when looking at the first half of the year rather than just the most recent quarter. After a huge surge in Q1, the company’s total January-to-June revenue is up 23% YOY to $16.4 million, while gross margin of $6.5 million represents a 39% increase from $4.7 million in YTD 2024.
CEO and Chair Michael Moskowitz said the latest results continue “our pattern of solid year-over-year growth.”
“Operating leverage driven by continued growth of the business has led to gross margin continuing to outpace revenue growth, with Q2 2025 gross margin percentage reaching an all-time high of 40.8%, advancing our path to profitability. Ongoing innovation and efficiency in our marketing program is enabling us to drive growth while at the same time reducing operating expenses as a percentage of revenue.”
NorthStar sustained record levels of customer retention in both Q1 and Q2 2025, which it said was driven by repeat engagement of recent first-time depositors. It also launched numerous product enhancements, including increasing its number of casino games by 27% to 2,000 games, expanding its integrated Insights content vertical with more casino content, and beginning a comprehensive upgrade of its casino UI/UX.
Cross-Canada presence brings growth opportunity
NorthStar owns and operates NorthStar Bets, a Toronto-based casino and sportsbook platform. It is increasing its Ontario revenue faster than the overall market’s rate of growth, meaning that it is gaining market share, said Moskowitz.
Outside of Canada’s only regulated commercial iGaming province, NorthStar owns a NorthStarBets.com site owned and operated by the Conseil des Abénakis de Wôlinak and licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and provides managed services to partners.
NorthStar estimates that by the end of this year, its total addressable market (TAM) across Canada will be around $9.5 billion. It projects that Alberta, which is expected to launch regulated iGaming in early 2026, will have a TAM worth $1 billion, which would make it the eighth-largest regulated commercial online gambling jurisdiction in North America. NorthStar noted that Alberta has an adult population of 3.3 million with the youngest average adult age in Canada (39 years old) and a nationwide-high per-capita GDP of around $100,000, roughly 50% higher than the Canadian average, offering significant advantages for operators like NorthStar who intend to seek a license.
Moskowitz estimates that a 3% market share in Canada would equate to around $280 million in revenue.
“Alberta is a very exciting opportunity,” he said on an earnings call on Aug. 14. “As we look at the next opportunity outside of the rest of Canada piece, the regulated Alberta market for us is the key attribute. The healthier our business becomes in Ontario and the rest of Canada, the more fuel we have for launching and creating demand in the exciting market of Alberta.
“We’ve always made it clear that NorthStar is a Canadian brand, starting from the name itself, and we believe we have greater knowledge of local markets compared to many international competitors. Being a made-in-Canada option also fits neatly with the recent surge in many people’s desire to buy goods and services from Canadian suppliers.”
Moskowitz concluded that, after more than three years of operating in Ontario, NorthStar Gaming is trending well towards reaching break-even.
