Ontario’s regulated online gambling market turned four years old last week, but new additions are still coming through the door.
BetNova launched on Thursday, April 9, as the latest new online casino and sportsbook doing business in the province. A brand from South African casino, bingo, and online gaming company Goldrush Gaming Group, BetNova offers
Goldrush subsidiary Goldrush Canada Ltd. was awarded an operator’s license by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) last August for the betnova.ca domain name, which is now live in the province.
It offers a range of slots, table, live dealer games from suppliers including Bragg Gaming Group, Evolution and several of its subsidiary studios, Hacksaw Gaming, Play’n GO, Pragmatic Play, Relax Gaming and more. It also has a soccer-heavy sports betting offering that includes limited markets on North American sports, as well as a slate of esports betting options.
BetNova’s platform is powered by iGaming supplier Delasport, which signposted BetNova’s entry into the Ontario market last fall. Delasport already provides a technology platform for other Ontario-licensed brands Titanplay and Maverick Games.
Several other operators are lining up to enter Ontario. absolutebet announced in early September that it had been given the green light by the AGCO, sports streaming giant DAZN has been approved to launch DAZN Bet in the province, and Higher Roller Technologies has an application pending with the regulator.
A revolving door
BetNova’s official launch in Ontario takes the province’s commercial iGaming market back up to 48 operators running a total of 82 sites, according to the iGaming Ontario (iGO), after Rivalry shut down play in the province in February.
That number will change again soon. While others wait to enter, another European operator has made the decision to pull out of Canada’s only (for now) regulated online gambling market.
Casumo will end all Ontario play on April 30, although it seems it will continue to offer gaming in several other parts of Canada. Casumo is still included in iGO’s operator count for now but will be scratched from the list once it stops accepting wagers at the end of this month.
When you have a market as vast and as competitive as Ontario’s, the exact colouring of the picture is always changing.
“Operators make individual decisions about their business priorities within the competitive Ontario market,” a spokesperson for iGO told Canadian Gaming Business. “More than 50 operators have joined the market and a small number have exited.
“These changes are an expected part of the market’s evolution and ultimately benefit consumers by driving a more innovative and customer-focused experience and improving service quality.”
