The initial gold rush in Ontario’s regulated online gaming market may be over, but a significant new entrant has just stepped through the door.
DraftKings announced on Wednesday, Aug. 20, that its Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) brand has launched online and mobile casino gaming in Canada’s only commercial iGaming province, joining DraftKings’ flagship sportsbook and casino offering.
Golden Nugget Online Gaming split off from Landry’s, Inc., the owner of the Golden Nugget casinos chain, in 2020 and was acquired by DraftKings in a deal struck in 2021 and completed in 2022. Plans have been in the works for GNOG to enter Ontario since before the market even opened in April 2022. It received its license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on June 12 of this year and finally officially launched on Aug. 19.
The Golden Nugget Online Gaming casino app is powered by DraftKings’ technology platform and features more than 2,000 slot titles and a wide selection of classic table games. As well as popular land-based slot titles such as Huff N’ More Puff, Cleopatra and Hypernova Megaways and a range of mass-market games from leading studios and suppliers, Golden Nugget also offers DraftKings Exclusive games. DraftKings and GNOG also share a loyalty program for their users.
Ontario is Golden Nugget’s fifth market, as it is already operational in four regulated online casino states: Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In the U.S., Golden Nugget Online Casino works with suppliers including EveryMatrix and Canadian company Bragg Gaming.
It also offers sports betting in all of those states except Pennsylvania, as well as in Arizona, where online casino is not legal, but will not do so in Ontario.
“Golden Nugget is one of the most iconic brands in gaming, and we are thrilled to be live in Ontario with its robust mobile casino offering,” said Matt Kalish, president of DraftKings North America. “The Golden Nugget Online Gaming casino app offers hundreds of popular casino games, exclusive content, smooth navigation, premium support and a dynamic loyalty program — all backed by DraftKings’ cutting-edge technology.”
DraftKings moves to two-pronged approach
Eilers and Krejcik Gaming (EKG) ranks DraftKings’ online casino app as No. 1 in the market in its 1H25 Online Casino App Testing Report. Number two? Golden Nugget.
It means that after three years of operating sports betting and casino in Ontario since launching there in May 2022, DraftKings now has two of the very best online casino platforms at its disposal in a hugely lucrative iCasino market.
Before regulation, DraftKings offered daily fantasy sports in the province until the AGCO’s prohibition on multi-jurisdictional play saw DraftKings and other operators such as FanDuel pull their DFS products from the province. Traditionally a sports and fantasy operator, it has continued to build out its iCasino offering in recent months, adding new content such as bespoke online blackjack tables and signing up new supplier partners like Playson.
Now, with the launch of Golden Nugget, DraftKings joins the select group of Ontario’s 50 licensed iGaming operators who have multiple online casino brands live in a market in which around 80% of total wagering handle and aggregated operator revenue derives from the iCasino vertical.
Other notable examples include Caesars, which runs Caesars Sportsbook & Casino, Caesars Palace Online Casino and Horseshoe Online Casino in the market. BetMGM also has its Wheel of Fortune Casino platform as well as its flagship brand, Bally’s recently added Monopoly Online Casino alongside its Bally Bet platform, and online casino-only SkillOnNet offers four brands including PlayOjo and SpinGenie.
Meanwhile, cross-Canada operator Super Group has found success with a five-brand slate in Ontario, consisting of the Betway sportsbook and casino and four online casinos including Jackpot City and Spin.
