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CGS looks to the future with a focus on iGaming in Canada

With iGaming’s prospects widely discussed in Canada, the 26th edition of the Canadian Gaming Summit is set to highlight how significant such growth could be for the future of the industry with its dedicated conference track ‘iGaming’.

The Canadian Gaming Summit is poised to return next month, taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 13-15. The dedicated conference track will take place on Wednesday, June 14, and will give attendees the opportunity to hear from industry leaders on topics ranging from Canadian gaming laws, the exciting opportunities new jurisdictions present and how to stimulate responsible revenue generation alongside growth.

Kicking off the conference track is “Engaging 15M new players: creating user experience to boost retention and brand loyalty”, a panel that will discuss how iGaming operators can construct an experience that prioritizes the customer, in spite of the limited time frame that is given for launch campaigns.

The panel will include industry experts Noah Levy (SVP, Product Management, The Score), Alexsandra Sygiel (CRO, Pinnacle Sports), Vlad Pavlov (Co-Founder, Betty), Vladimir Malakchi (Chief Commercial Officer, Evoplay) and Dean MacNeil (VP, Product & Managed Services, Northstar Bets), who will discuss how utilizing technology, brand and partnerships can create a unique and engaging environment that encourages players to return.

The panel “Game mechanics and UX – how much innovation is healthy for online casino?”, will be taking a focused look on innovation and the wealth of possibilities it can present to the industry going forward.

The panel will include experts Paolo Roberto de Leon (Senior Director, Online Casino Content, Caesars Digital), Vladyslav Garanko (Chief Marketing Officer, Platipus Gaming), David King (Senior Manager of Product Design, Rivalry) and Trent Schwartz (Senior Manager, Gaming Experience, BetMGM) who will focus on when innovation is necessary in UX and game mechanics, from slot machines to online poker.

The highly anticipated panel “New Kids on the Block: lessons learned from international operators’ entry into the Canadian market”, will analyze the successes of compliance, marketing and commercial teams of international operators in Canadian Provinces.

The panel will include expert speakers Marina Bogard (Managing Director, Betsafe), Roxana Zaharia (Head of Canada, Rhino Entertainment) and William Woodhams (CEO, Fitzdares) and will be moderated by Peter Czegledy (Corporate, Technology, Gaming, eSports and Space Tech Partner, Aird & Berlis LLP). During the panel, speakers will further discuss how the path of international operators can be utilized as a framework for future activity in Canadian provinces.

Rasmus Sojmark, CEO & Founder or SBC, said: “With Canada taking steps towards the legalization of iGaming, it is important now more than ever that we provide the resources for companies to take advantage of the current and future landscape. The Canadian gaming space presents an abundance of opportunity for companies and we look forward to watching the market flourish in the coming years.”

Alongside the ‘iGaming’ track, attendees at the event will have the opportunity to attend expert-led panels from an additional 9 tracks including: Leaders, Land-based, Sports Betting and many more across the 3-day event.

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You can purchase your ticket for the Canadian Gaming Summit by visiting the website. For groups of three or more people, a special discount will be applied, saving you $200 on the regular ticket price (Per ticket).

PointsBet Canada remains as agreement reached on sale of US arm to Fanatics

PointsBet will retain its operations in Canada despite entering an agreement to sell its US arm to Fanatics.

Subject to PointsBet shareholder approval, Fanatics will acquire the Australian group’s US sports betting and igaming operations, Banach tech and a license to use the firm’s proprietary technology for $150m in cash.

A joint statement on Twitter read: “Fanatics and PointsBet are excited to enter into an agreement for Fanatics Betting and Gaming to acquire PointsBet’s US business.

“While there are still several steps in the process to complete the acquisition, both parties are confident in the outcome. Fanatics Betting and Gaming and PointsBet will provide further details of the proposed deal and timely updates in the coming weeks.”

Pertinently, though, a distinction has been made between PointsBet US and the rest of its North American operations, namely PointsBet Canada.

Reports had surfaced in mid-April regarding the potential sale of the firm’s US arm, but there was a degree of ambiguity when PointsBet published its quarterly report last month.

In a statement accompanying the results, PointsBet Managing Director and CEO Sam Swanell said that “the company is currently in discussion with multiple parties in respect of potential transactions that would involve part or all of our North American business”.

However, it appears that the sale is limited to just PointsBet US, and thus its Canadian division will remain as it seeks to build on some encouraging results of late, including 21% Q-o-Q revenue growth in Q3 2023, aided by igaming revenue of $3.23m (+24% QoQ).

The company also entered the Ontario market last year, which produced $6.1m in revenue during the second half of 2022.

Century Casinos reports Q1 revenue growth across Edmonton locations

Century Casinos has published its financial results for the three months ended Mar. 31, with the Colorado-based firm reporting a 5.2% (year-on-year) increase in net operating revenue.

During the first quarter of 2023, the group’s net operating revenue was recorded at CAD$146.48m, up from $139.18m in the same period last year.

The majority of this revenue hailed from its US segment, but Century Casinos’ Canadian segment also generated $22.4m of the final figure, an increase of 1.2% ($2.1m) on Q1 2022, driven primarily by an 18.8% ($2.6m) increase in Edmonton, where it has three reporting units – Century Casino & Hotel (Edmonton), Century Casino St. Albert, and Century Mile Racetrack and Casino.

However, Century Casinos’ Calgary division – Century Downs Racetrack and Casino – reported net operating revenue of $6.2m, down 7.5% ($0.5m) on last year.

Meanwhile, operating costs and expenses in Edmonton came to $12.4m in Q1, up 10.7% ($1.2m) YoY, with Calgary’s down 25% ($1m) to $3m, contributing to overall Canadian operating costs and expenses of $15.4m, up 1.3% ($0.2m) YoY.

The revenue increase at all of the group’s Edmonton locations was attributed to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, with customers required to provide proof of vaccination, a negative rapid test result or an original medical exemption letter for entry to comply with a government mandate last year.

Operating costs and expenses at Edmonton increased due to ‘increased payroll and marketing costs and cost of goods sold’, according to Century Casinos.

Looking at its Calgary casino, the firm cited the opening of a competitor close to its base last November as a factor in the 5.3% decline of its gaming revenue.

Important to factor in too, is the February 2022 sale of the land and building Century Casinos owned in Calgary, where it transferred the lease agreement for the casino premises to the buyer and ceased operating Century Sports, a sports bar, bowling and entertainment facility located on the property. Prior to the $8m sale, Century Sports was included in the Calgary operating segment.

In March, the group also received an earn out payment of $0.8m related to the 2020 sale of its Calgary casino operations.

Elsewhere, Century Casinos noted the temporary increase from 15% of slot machine net sales retained by casinos to 17% approved by the AGLC earlier this year, effective from Apr. 1 through Mar, 31, 2025.

“The increase in the slot machine net sales retention percentage is expected to have a positive impact on net operating revenue and results of operations at our Canadian properties,” the firm added.

Pollard Banknote revenue up 9.4% in Q1 despite downturn in operational income

Pollard Banknote has reported a 9.4% year-on-year rise in revenue for the three-month period ended Mar. 31.

The Winnipeg-based firm, a provider of products and solutions to lottery and charitable gaming industries, recorded revenues of $124.6m in Q1 2023, up from $113.9m in the same period last year.

Combined sales in the quarter, including its share of NeoPollard Interactive (NPi) joint venture sales, reached $143.1m, up 14.3% from the $125.2m in Q1 2022.

John Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, observed: “Our overall financial results for the first quarter of 2023 reflected the underlying strong demand experienced for all of our products and solutions for the lottery and charitable gaming markets and, notwithstanding the inflationary head winds impacting our instant ticket segment, provide a foundation for continued growth throughout 2023 and beyond.

“In a number of markets including charitable gaming, eGaming systems and iLottery, we recorded solid earnings and remain confident these results will continue as we move through 2023. As previously noted, major challenges in our instant ticket business continued, as the accumulated effect of significant cost increases on our major inputs (paper, ink, packaging, freight) during 2022 fully impacted our margins this quarter.

“Despite these factors, our consolidated Adjusted EBITDA was only slightly lower than the same period in 2022. The growth in our first quarter combined sales of over 14% is an indicator of the strong demand for our offerings.”

The company’s adjusted EBITDA was $18.6m, compared to $19m in Q1 2022, while income from operations came in lower at $7.6m, representing a downturn on the $9.3m reported in the same period last year.

Reflecting on this, Pollard added: “We have not experienced any new cost increases since the start of 2023 and have seen some indications of small cost decreases as suppliers adjust to the current economic environment. While still very early, and these decreases are not yet material, it is a positive sign that perhaps in the future our current higher costs may start to trend lower.”

Pollard concluded: “We remain confident our repricing strategy will allow us to ultimately return to our historic margins. All of our product and solution offerings remain in high demand by our customers, and ultimately the end consumers.

“We are very optimistic this demand will continue and believe our strong partnership with our lottery and charitable gaming customers will allow us to help them continue to grow and generate significant funds for their good causes.”

Paysafe facilitates instant deposits & rapid payouts in Ontario via new Skrill wallet

Paysafe has gone live in Ontario with its upgraded Skrill digital wallet for igaming, an offering designed to securely support instant deposits directly from players’ Canadian bank accounts.

The revamped digital wallet also serves to speed up the payout process while adding a streamlined and intuitive user experience (UX) for players.

Wednesday’s development was an expected one, after Greg Kirstein, Paysafe’s VP of Business Development for the North American gaming space, told this site earlier this year that the switch was in the works.

Kirstein’s declaration came as part of a discussion on the payment tech provider’s ‘All the way players play’ research report, which outlined that 73% of Ontarian online sports bettors have deposited at sportsbooks using a digital wallet.

Commenting on the company’s upgraded offering in Ontario, Zak Cutler, President of Global Gaming at Paysafe, said: “Since we first rolled-out the new Skrill in the US two years ago, we feel it’s been a game changer for the payments experience of American players.

“We expect the upgraded wallet to be just as well received north of the border, with Skrill giving Ontarian operators a competitive edge when it comes to acquiring and retaining their customers.”

Online bettors in the province can also transfer funds to their Skrill wallet balance using the Paysafecash eCash solution, with returning users benefiting from an even quicker redeposit process, skipping log-in (when ‘remember me’ is activated) to deposit with a single click.

Pragmatic Play takes live casino games to Ontario via bet365

Pragmatic Play has utilized its partnership with bet365 to make its live casino debut in the Canadian province of Ontario.

The multi-product content provider is already live in the province after signing a deal last November to supply NorthStar Gaming with its full portfolio of slot titles.

The firm has now made its second entrance into the market, joining forces with industry heavyweights bet365 to build on the ‘significant’ deal agreed between the pair last May, one which saw Pragmatic Play launch its complete slot portfolio with the operator.

Commenting on its latest agreement in Ontario, a bet365 spokesperson said: “We are proud to extend our partnership with Pragmatic Play into the Ontario market. Its combination of award-winning innovative slots and live games perfectly fits bet365’s games product, and will be a welcome addition for our Ontario customers.”

The deal is Pragmatic Play’s second in both Ontario and North America as a whole, with the provider ‘keen to explore the massive growth potential of the market as more states and territories seek to legalise online gambling and sports betting’.

Among the titles now available to players in Ontario are Sweet Bonanza CandyLand and PowerUp Roulette.

Irina Cornides, Chief Operating Officer at Pragmatic Play, added: “Partnering with bet365 in Ontario is an exciting move for us at Pragmatic Play, as we continue to expand our reach in regulated markets across the world.

“We’re delighted to enhance bet365’s offering in North America with some of the best games in the industry. As we are already live in Ontario with our award-winning range of Slots, this deal brings even more of our premium content to players in the province.”

GeoComply completes acquisition of OneComply

GeoComply has decided to stick close to home with its latest acquisition, the Vancouver-based OneComply.

Sharing a base in the British Columbia area, as well as a similar name, OneComply will now operate under the guidance of the geolocation and fraud prevention firm as it seeks to add a more robust compliance offering.

The deal arrives less than a month after OneComply announced it was pursuing land-based casinos as the next market for its compliance management and licensing solution, having already deployed its software in several casino properties across Nevada, California and Washington State.

“As fellow Vancouver-based entrepreneurs, GeoComply has always been an inspiration,” said OneComply Co-Founder and CEO Cameron Conn, who recently spoke about how technology can help companies keep on top of compliance.

“Our Co-Founder Aaron [Gould] and I are super excited about continuing our journey as part of the broader GeoComply team. I am sure that together we will amplify and enhance our world-class compliance and licensing solutions for regulated industries around the globe.”

Meanwhile, GeoComply hopes the OneComply platform can help organizations to ‘eliminate complexity and automate licensing compliance’, saving them valuable time and resources.

Anna Sainsbury, GeoComply Co-Founder and CEO, added: “From our first interactions with OneComply, we have been excited about the opportunity to welcome them into the GeoComply family, and it gives me great pleasure to have completed that process.

“Licensing organizations and key individuals is necessary but can be a painful process for any entity working in regulated industries such as gaming or fintech. As an existing OneComply customer, we know just how much OneComply eases that pain, not just for us but also for the regulators administering the process.”

Sainsbury continued: “Adding their licensing platform and expertise to our portfolio of solutions will materially and cost-effectively help our existing and new customers in the gaming and other regulated industries achieve and maintain a new gold standard in compliance and risk services.

“Together, we will have unparalleled capabilities to support the mission-critical compliance needs of the gaming industry, including AML, KYC, licensing, geolocation, sanctions compliance, and fraud prevention technology.”

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but it marks the first major acquisition for GeoComply, which received private equity funding earlier this year to expand the scope of the business. That funding was earmarked for media rights and cryptocurrency compliance, but could also go to support core markets, as this OneComply acquisition will do.

Rush Street headlines Ontario as key growth driver after 33% hike in Q1 GGR

Rush Street Interactive has identified the Canadian province of Ontario as an essential component of the group’s growth strategy in its latest earnings report.

Publishing its Q1 figures on Wednesday, Rush Street reported revenue of $217.94m (USD$162.4m) in the first three months of 2023, up 20.4% year-on-year (Q1 2022: $181.03m).

Other top line numbers included a net loss of $32.88m (USD$24.5m), down 53.2% YoY, and adjusted EBITDA loss of $11.68m (USD$8.7m), down 20% YoY.

The group noted continued profitable growth in casino markets, including Ontario, Colombia, and West Virginia where it increased estimated market share sequentially during the first quarter.

“These results continue to support our view that online casino is a key driver for us in achieving our long-term goals,” said Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz. “Our business model and focus is centered around our deep understanding of online casino customers and developing experiences that will engage and retain them.

“Our year-over-year growth was broad-based with growth in both our eye casino and sport only markets. In addition, we grew revenue over 100% in Latin America and in North American markets launched after 2020. Internationally, we had an excellent quarter.”

Rush Street’s results were underpinned by 33% growth in GGR in Ontario, compared to the fourth quarter, while revenue increased by 38% sequentially due to “improved efficiency on promotions”.

The company entered the Canadian province when the regulated market opened in April 2022, with the online casino and sportsbook of its subsidiary BetRivers going live.

Rush Street further underlined its credentials in Ontario via an agreement with Bragg Gaming to offer a selection of its online gaming content.

Adding to the commentary on the earnings report, CFO Kyle Sauers said: “Consistent with our strategy to invest more in markets with online casino, monthly active users in those markets increased double digits year-over-year. In total, our miles for the first quarter in the United States and Canada were 147,000, up 3% year-over-year after excluding New York due to the impact of the launch in that state on last year’s numbers.”

Responding to a question on Rush Street’s earnings conference call, Sauers continued: “Those (Ontario and Michigan) should be nice growth drivers for us.

“There’s opportunities to grow in a lot of the markets that we’re participating in. What I had mentioned earlier was that some of these — a couple of the larger, more mature markets like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, probably offer a little lower growth profile for us this year.”

Meanwhile, guidance from Rush Street suggests the company will pull in between $845.45m (USD$630m) and $939.39m ($700m) across the entire year.

Penn Entertainment spotlights proprietary tech stack amid ‘compelling results’ in Ontario

Penn Entertainment has underlined the importance of its proprietary technology stack in sustaining market share in the Canadian province of Ontario.

The integrated entertainment, sports content and casino gaming operator entered the regulated market upon its launch in April 2022, with subsidiary theScore Bet launching its mobile sportsbook and casino.

Penn subsequently announced in July that the brand had officially launched its proprietary risk and trading platform, the culmination of a strategy to bring its sportsbook technology in-house and operate on a vertically integrated technology stack, enhancing its offering in Ontario.

The effect of this became clear in February, when Penn revealed Ontario had become its top market in North America for sports betting and online casino, with revenues of $1.59bn (+8%YoY) and adjusted EBITDA of $483.3m (+18.8% YoY) in Q4 2022, aided by “better than expected” results in the online casino division.

Meanwhile, reporting its Q1 2023 results earlier this week, when Penn declared total revenues of $2.25bn (USD$1.67bn) to mark an increase of 7% year-over-year, CEO Jay Snowden paid tribute to the success of its tech stack in Ontario, and reiterated that the platform will roll out in the US in Q3 when its deal with Kambi concludes.

Snowden said: “In Ontario, we are seeing the benefits of our proprietary technology stack, which has led to our sustained market share in one of the most competitive markets in North America.

“Having full control of our product roadmap in the US, which remains on track for July, will enable us to connect with our customers on a more personalized level and quickly add new features and betting markets to the Barstool Sportsbook, while also enhancing our iCasino product with new content and bonus mechanics.

“In addition, with an improved guest experience post-migration, we will be well positioned to drive stronger loyalty and retention, while offering seamless cross-play in our omni-channel ecosystem.”

theScore media, too, is delivering “strong results”, according to Snowden, with improving revenue and engagement metrics, whilst total user sessions improved by 22% YoY.

Snowden concluded in Penn’s report: “We are pleased to report that Penn delivered another solid quarter in what remains an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

“Our proprietary sports betting and icasino technology platform, which is live in Ontario, continues to drive compelling results and market share. As previously announced, on February 17th we completed our acquisition of the remainder of Barstool Sports.

“Accordingly, we are raising our prior 2023 revenue guidance range to $8.57bn (USD$6.37bn) ‒ $9.16bn (USD$6.81bn) to reflect the Barstool acquisition, which is neutral to Adjusted EBITDAR.”

Tallysight makes Canadian debut via Homestand Sports betting content partnership

Homestand Sports has entered into an agreement with sports gaming software firm Tallysight to bring ‘integrated betting content experiences’ to Canadian sports fans.

In doing so, Homestand Sports has become the first Canadian client of Tallysight, which provides publishers with turnkey software tools to streamline content creation, distribution, and monetization of sports betting content.

The broadcaster will also service sports gaming operators on Homestand.ca as part of the deal, with Tallysight’s content, marketing and analytic tools already live on the website.

This latest agreement follows a strategic content alliance signed with SportsGrid in January, one which sees Homestand Sports produce and develop original programs for the network’s TV platforms across Canada, including Homestand Sports Show, the Room 4-4-2 soccer show and The Parleh betting show.

Mark Silver, CEO of Homestand Sports, explained: “One year into the regulated Ontario market, we saw an opportunity for Homestand to emerge as the first Canadian sports broadcaster to fully embrace online sports betting experiences.

“We are in the business of sports entertainment after all, and now with the support of Tallysight’s tools and technology, we will educate fans with our content and facilitate them responsibly placing a wager.”

Homestand Sports has become the first Canadian client of Tallysight, but the company has already built up an extensive network in the US, partnering with the likes of the New York Times/The Athletic, Vox Media/SB Nation, and Minute Media/FanSided.

Matt Peterson, Co-Founder and CEO of Tallysight, added: ‍“This partnership with Homestand represents a significant milestone for Tallysight, as we look to expand our reach and impact in the global sports gaming industry beyond the United States.

“We are excited to continue on our mission by now helping Canadian sports fans better transact while supporting gaming operators to acquire new customers online through Homestand.”