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Towards the future: where will sports betting go from here?

By Peter K. Czegledy

It’s not hard to see the effects of the shift in federal legislation and provincial regulatory approach to sports betting in Ontario. Billboards, buses, and a plethora of commercials each showcase the new gambling opportunities available as of April 4, 2022.

With the regulated and unregulated sports betting markets undergoing significant change, there’s a buzz across the provincial gaming industry.

“It’s an indicator of a monumental shift in Ontario – and potentially in Canada – a shift towards real change in the industry, focused on adopting superior products and services from a customer perspective, responsible care for vulnerable people, a profitable business opportunity for participants and, importantly, new sources of revenue to support critical government programs,” said Peter Czegledy, Chair of the Gaming Group at Aird & Berlis LLP in Toronto. “And we’re going to do that in a highly regulated, carefully thought-out space. That’s the goal, and that hopefully is going to be our future.”

Czegledy moderated a panel titled “The Future of Sports Betting” on June 7, 2022, at the Canadian Gaming Summit, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The panel dissected what the future holds for what may be the most dynamic and promising segment of the gaming industry.

Changes to Canadian betting landscape

Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, legalized single-event sports betting in Canada on August 27, 2021, triggering an important legislative change to the Canadian gaming landscape. The subsequent adoption of an iGaming framework in Ontario, which went live on April 4, 2022, expanded that opportunity to permit private industry to participate – with many hoping that similar change is on the horizon for other Canadian provinces and territories.

“Sports betting is, quite frankly, more socially accepted than other products,” said panellist Tristan Wootton, director of growth at Fitzdares. “It fulfills a really important function in the gaming ecosystem and I can see why it’s so important in particular in North America.”

The industry has taken a leap forward in terms of choice, product and content, added Conor Murray, vice-president of marketing with FanDuel Group. “It’s really taken a step forward and it’s going to continue to take steps forward over the next few years on all those fronts.”

How the Ontario market unfolds will be interesting to watch, given the state of the capital markets in the last few months, said Sean MacGillis, managing director at Haywood Securities. “This is a battleground ‘state’ that is being fought in a bear market. It’s going to be a really unique market to watch as this plays out, because it stacks up to any of the big U.S. markets.”

RELATED: The 4Ts & the Canadian gaming opportunity

Ushering in a new era

Fantasy sports have had a significant influence on sports betting and will continue to shape the industry in the years to come.

“It’s definitely had an outsized influence, particularly in the early years,” Murray told the Summit audience, noting however that fantasy sports should not be overly relied upon for long-term success in the betting landscape. “It’s important early on, but you have to win in brand, in product… There’s a lot of intricacy and nuance. It was a good way of engaging fans in live sports in a very entertaining way while having money on the line. It warmed up the market, in a sense. When sports betting finally became legalized… it was probably a little more primed and ready to go.”

And as regulations shift, so does the profile of the typical sports bettor.

Sports bettors now wager lower amounts more frequently during the week, as opposed to a “crescendo” on the weekend, said Wootton. “We’ve got content 24/7. We’ve got leagues in Latin America, Australia, the Philippines. There’s so much content now, that what we’re seeing from our consumers is that they are still overwhelmingly young to middle-aged, and they are now prepared to spread their dollars throughout the week.”

An increase in female bettors is also of note as gaming becomes more mainstream. The emergence of the female player is a really interesting demographic and trend to watch moving forward, noted MacGillis.

New product development

Innovation will continue to occur as the industry evolves, said Brent Winston, co-founder and chief executive officer at BetSwap Limited.

“We don’t see innovation happen so often, but when it does, it’s quite substantial,” he said. “If we’re looking to the future, we will see various types of products become launched… It’s all about trying to find a new way to engage the new users that everybody is fighting so desperately to acquire. If the products remain stagnant, over time you’ll start to lose users because you’re not engaging them in the way that they need to be engaged.”

In-play gaming and microgaming are new concepts on the betting scene, added Czegledy. “Customers are still being educated on them, and some operators are feeling their way out.”

One issue holding this area back may be network lag times and the issue of syncing betting interfaces to live games, said Murray. “That’s the unlock that would take it up to another level.”

However, live-betting opportunities do keep users engaged in certain games that in the past may have seen viewers lose interest, he said. “Previously a moment might have been completely inconsequential – a penalty in the third quarter of a blowout game… but (now) it could affect the spread.”

A shifting understanding of sports

Will the sport of today resemble the sport of tomorrow? It’s a significant question to ponder as sports betting begins to organically affect the various games being played.

Living and breathing in a digital ecosystem allows esports to function well in terms of microtransactions, said MacGillis. But for traditional sports, it will be important to envision “where the puck is going” as the shift to digital continues to break down barriers.

“Esports is going to help lead the charge from a technical perspective, but the juggernauts are going to… duplicate what they’re doing, and what’s working, if they’re smart,” he said.

Traditional sports will continue to be large revenue drivers, added Winston. But as these sports enter off-season periods, those familiar with sports betting may filter towards esports and begin exploring other niche opportunities.

One area to keep an eye on going forward will be the interests of younger sports bettors and how their passions shift as the industry matures, said Murray.

Peter Czegledy is a member of Aird & Berlis LLP’s Corporate/Commercial Group, as well as the Intellectual Property, Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity, Technology and Licensing Groups. He is Chair of the Gaming Group and co-Chair of the firm’s Esports & Gaming Group and Sports, Media & Entertainment Group. This article was initially published on airdberlis.com. 

PokerStars, Casumo among latest prepared to wade into Ontario market

A little more than 10 weeks into the lifespan of the Ontario regulated market, and the pool keeps deepening.

Among the latest brands to be approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to operate in the province are BetVictor, PokerStars, and Casumo

Gibraltar-based operator BetVictor was the 35th gaming operator approved by the AGCO when it received its license on June 3, but it has yet to secure an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.

Flutter’s PokerStars and Pret Play’s Casumo are also now licensed with the AGCO and can go live once they pass the last checkpoint with iGO. PokerStars’ license is for two years until June 2024, while Casumo’s is for a single year.

PokerStars’ regulated online poker license has been issued to TSG Interactive Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Flutter, the parent company of PokerStars, under the domain on.pokerstars.ca, reports Pokerfuse. The regulator has also authorized the operator’s casino and sports domains and three mobile apps — one for each vertical.

Meanwhile, a few new gaming sites have now passed that iGO hurdle and are operational in the market as of June 9.

SkillOnNet’s PlayOjo, SlotsMagic, and SpinGenie brands are now live with a portfolio of games that now includes Bragg Gaming slots content from the iGaming provider’s in-house studio, Atomic Slot Lab, as well as exclusive titles from ORYX Gaming.

In addition, Comeon! and Knightslots.ca are also now up and running after receiving licenses in past weeks.

More than 35 operators have been approved for licenses and 28 privately operated sites are currently live in the province’s regulated market, in addition to Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. The word at the recent Canadian Gaming Summit was that there are potentially more than 70 brands currently at some stage of the application process.

In addition, there are others such as Bally’s, which reportedly expects to launch in Ontario later this summer, and BetRegal which have been waiting for the market to take shape before stepping in.

DraftKings, BetBlocker unite to support responsible gambling

Betting operator DraftKings has announced it is collaborating with responsible gaming non-for-profit BetBlocker to improve awareness of and access to BetBlocker’s software, which is designed to support responsible gaming and safer play.

The partnership will educate and promote the ways in which consumers using BetBlocker can set restrictions on their gaming activities on all their devices free of charge. BetBlocker’s restrictions are available globally for use on gaming sites, whether regulated or not.

“BetBlocker’s contributions to safer play are commendable and DraftKings is pleased to team up with this enterprising and disruptive not-for-profit that is advancing responsible gaming in a comprehensive and consumer-friendly way,” Chrissy Thurmond, DraftKings senior director of responsible gaming, said in a press release. “We share BetBlocker’s vision that technology and innovation are critical to promoting safer play, and we extend a warm welcome to BetBlocker as they build their footprint in North America, following widespread success across the pond.”

BetBlocker allows users to download its software anonymously and without personal data being stored. BetBlocker provides gamblers with a range of restriction lengths to choose from or use of a calendar-blocking functionality, such as blocking gambling on all Saturdays or Sundays.

“BetBlocker is thrilled to have the support of sports betting and gaming industry giant, DraftKings, to extend our software outside of the U.K. and Europe, to players in the United States and Canada,” said Pedro Romero, BetBlocker chief of safer gambling partnerships. “We encourage other operators to follow DraftKings’ example of going above and beyond what is required region by region, to ensure all players have the knowledge and tools to bet responsibly.”

Immersive omni-channel gaming means focusing on the customer

By Tom Nightingale

In a world of gaming’s increased convergence between traditional and emerging gaming methods, building an immersive omni-channel experience is becoming a priority for operators. Adapting land-based content for online use will surely continue to be one of the driving forces behind casinos enjoying strong engagement with new and existing players, just as ensuring synergy with bricks-and-mortar casinos will be an important avenue for those online operators in Ontario’s regulated market.

Rush Street Interactive (RSI) is one major gaming operator that has long had a foot in all camps. It provides an omni-channel platform for land-based sportsbooks and social gaming at its casinos in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York State, and Indiana, runs a fully integrated online gaming sportsbook, and went live in Ontario’s new market with its BetRivers-branded sportsbook in April.

Bruce Caughill, RSI’s Managing Director in Canada, notes that providing a form of omni-channel experience has long been a core pillar for the company.

Rush Street Interactive Managing Director in Canada Bruce Caughill

“Our two largest shareholders and co-founders, Neil Bluhm and Greg Carlin, were part of the company that built and ran Niagara Casinos in Ontario and also part of the bricks-and-mortar side of Rush Street Gaming,” he tells CGB. “From day one, it has always been a primary focus to make sure online gaming is implemented in a way that complements land-based gaming. We really do have a foot firmly in both camps, and I know there are a lot of land-based operators that also look at it that way.”

RELATED: Canadian Gaming Business’ Summer 2022 magazine is out now

Spreading your bets, so to speak, across various channels may seem to many like a no-brainer in the current gaming and societal climate. To not pursue such an avenue, one could reasonably argue, would be to close off valuable and potentially highly profitable pathways, narrow your customer base, and risk falling behind in what has quickly become a hugely saturated field. As Caughill puts it, in an ideal world where an operator has the full data and the right commercial structure and regulatory framework, it’s hard to argue it is not a great thing.

But just how practical will running a multi-channel operation be for Ontario’s score of brands in a market that is still finding its feet on the regulatory side? Caughill is wary.

“What an omni-channel strategy actually looks like depends a great deal on the situation an operator finds themselves in,” he notes. “Within the regulatory framework, for example, you’ve got transactions going on in different areas and different AML reporting accountabilities. In Ontario, we’ve got different tax rates for online versus land-based gaming transactions – it’s a different structure, two different conductors and managers. The concept itself is hard to argue against and is certainly something that operators need to consider, but the full omni-channel experience may not be open or available to every operator.”

Customer is king

That may be true, but what is available to every operator is the toolkit to create a world-class customer experience, whether that is full omni-channel or not. After all, customer is king.

RSI knows all about this, having won the EGR North American Award for customer service operator of the year three years in a row, among other honours. Caughill stresses that while omni-channel considerations naturally form part of their focus on customer experience, it’s the broader player-facing envelope that is their priority.

“A world-class customer experience needs world-class customer service, so having that available and meaningful consistently is crucial,” he says. “On the game front, it’s really about variety and trusted brands and being quick to market. But communication is a key point, too. It’s not just transactional, it’s community-based and communication.

“For instance, we have a robust piece of our offering which helps bring people together to talk about issues and lots of community-building initiatives. Not all that lives and dies on the omni-channel concept; much of it can be done outside that or complementary to it. The customer experience piece really needs to stand on its own and not just be driven by whether you have an omni-channel operation.”

Caughill himself brought invaluable experience to RSI’s Canadian leadership team when he joined in late March, just prior to Ontario’s regulated online gaming and betting market getting off the ground. He had previously served as the Chief Legal Officer of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), and before that spent around two decades with Niagara Casinos on the bricks-and-mortar side.

That experience on the land-based side of things has taught him more than a thing or two about integrating operations.

“It’s been interesting for me to have a land-based and regulatory background before coming into the digital operational world, to see how important clicks are,” he notes. “It’s all about reducing friction points. Even small things can make a big difference.”

Land-based not left behind

One would have been forgiven for this slipping the mind amid everything that has been happening on the digital front of Canadian gaming through the pandemic and particularly in the early months of 2022, but gaming is not just done on websites or mobile apps.

Bricks-and-mortar gaming remains a cornerstone of the industry and ensuring that it remains a key piece is vital.

Caughill, of course, has an affinity for the land-based side of things after his longtime service with Niagara Casinos, and he stresses that casinos have been showing strong growth through what has been at least a decade and a half of grey-market digital gaming activity in Ontario prior to the province’s overhaul.

While in Ontario, online gaming and betting has not come out of the blue, what was not there in yesteryear and is there today is the huge potential for land-based operators to partner with online operators. Until now, grey-market online brands were out of bounds for any land-based operator. “You couldn’t be in that world of partnerships or gaming and expect to be registered as a land-based casino in Ontario,” Caughill, the former AGCO legal executive, emphasizes.

“Now, with those operators and more coming into regulation, casinos have access to this other vertical of business and the opportunity to partner and bring in revenue on that front with a new demographic. I don’t think omni-channel and digital gaming is a major threat to land-based casinos; I think there are real opportunities that weren’t there before in terms of negotiating partnerships and securing market access. It should only be seen as an opportunity for land-based casinos, as long as they are focused on realizing that opportunity.”

Ultimately, one of the keys to the omni-channel gaming approach is to recognize that as digital gaming keeps growing and evolving, there will always be people wanting to walk into a facility. There is a parallel to be drawn with restaurants, perhaps – takeout and off-premises consumption has boomed during the pandemic, but people still want to dine in.

“There is a pretty significant demographic that will never go online,” concludes Caughill. “Online operators don’t provide the sort of amenities that bricks-and-mortar casinos do. Online players being able to access those amenities at a land-based location is a huge thing. There is a real role for these places to play, and I would say that any top-class omni-channel gaming operation must recognize that.”

Bruce Caughill was a featured panelist on the topic of omnichannel gaming at the 2022 Canadian Gaming Summit.

2022 Canadian Gaming Summit celebrates 25th year in style

The Canadian Gaming Summit, Canada’s premier gaming event, returned in-person for its 25th year in 2022 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from June 7-9, hosted collaboratively by the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA), Canadian Gaming Business (CGB), and MediaEdge Communications (MEC). This year’s Summit was also supported by SBC.

The theme of this year’s 25th annual Summit was “Canada – A World of New Opportunities”, reflecting the hugely significant developments of the Canadian gaming industry, not least Ontario opening its regulated iGaming market, the continuing transformation of the country’s sports betting landscape, and the ever-evolving product and technology innovations that characterize gaming in Canada.

As we had hoped and anticipated after so long kept apart, the 2022  Summit was a roaring success.

MediaEdge Communications, Canadian Gaming Business, and the Canadian Gaming Association strived to put together an educational program and a trade floor that displayed the fantastic progress the industry has made over the last couple of years despite unprecedentedly tough challenges.

Some highlights

Things kicked off on Tuesday, June 7 with a slate of sessions beginning with a fantastic panel moderated by Segev LLP’s Ron Segev entitled “Tax Breaks, Time Zones, Talent & Tickertape – The 4Ts and the Larger Gaming Opportunity in Canada” and featuring PointsBet Canada CEO Scott Vanderwel and other panelists from Segev LLP, Boast.AI, and Stifel Financial Corp.  That first session of the Summit was so popular that we had to remove the wall between two rooms just to accommodate all the attendees – a fantastic way to set the tone for the week.

Day one continued with an informative Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario panel on iGaming advertising and compliance in Ontario and sessions on virtual payments, compliance, sportsbook advertising, and the new world in Ontario.

On day two, we officially welcomed the industry with statements from Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns, MediaEdge Communications SVP Chuck Nervick, Ontario’s Attorney General Doug Downey, and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Board Chair Jim Warren.

iGaming Ontario executives held a keynote on the launch of Ontario’s much anticipated new iGaming market launched and some lessons learned so far, and just some of the sessions on show discussed the likes of bitcoin’s potential place in the industry, sports betting integrity, omni-channel gaming, responsible gambling, payments, AML, the future of sports betting, and women in gaming.

On day three, the Summit concluded with more fantastic panels on sessions including a look at Canadian gaming’s future, eSports, customer conversion, inclusivity in gaming, affiliate marketing, sustainability in gaming, online casino, and an Ipsos forecast, amongst others.

We also handed out our Summer 2022 issue of Canadian Gaming Business magazine at the Summit. If you missed it in print, check out the full digital issue here.

A thank you from us

All told, we were delighted and proud to feature insights from just about every corner of the industry: a range of leading regulators, operators, suppliers, authorities on responsible gambling and legal issues, and many more.

We’d like to thank all the speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees for making the 25th annual Summit what it was: a fantastic occasion to reunite the Canadian gaming industry and take stock of where this great industry has been, is today, and may go in the future.

Now, SBC prepares to take over the reins for 2023, and they have already announced that the Summit will return to the MTCC from June 13-15, 2023. MediaEdge Communications and Canadian Gaming Business would like to say what a privilege it has been to coordinate and co-host this event with the Canadian Gaming Association for so many years. We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have.

 

Summit features

 

Immersive omni-channel gaming means focusing on the customer

Tax breaks, time zones, talent & tickertape: the 4Ts & the Canadian gaming opportunity

Towards the future: where will sports betting go from here?

Inclusivity in gaming: more than a buzzword

Ontario iGaming is a ‘10-year overnight success’

Land-based entities boast ‘tremendous amount of upside’ in entering digital arena

Pre-Summit Q&A interview with CGA President and CEO Paul Burns

Bragg Gaming appoints 888’s Yaniv Sherman as CEO

Bragg Gaming Group has named 888 veteran Yaniv Sherman its new CEO, replacing interim chief executive Paul Godfrey.

A statement says that Sherman, who spent 14 years with 888 Holdings, has been chosen to lead the group following a “review of strategic alternatives” by Bragg’s Board of Directors. Sherman’s most recent position was as 888’s Head of U.S., wherein he led a 15-year joint venture allowing 888 to use the Sports Illustrated brand in the U.S., and helped to forge partnerships with the likes of Caesars Entertainment.

Sherman will take over from Godfrey on July 1.

Godfrey said Sherman’s extensive success at 888 and in the gaming industry “makes him ideally suited to lead the company’s ongoing execution of our successful growth initiatives”.

Bragg has plans for further U.S. and Canadian expansion and recently completed acquisitions of the Spin Games and Wild Streak Gaming studios.

Sherman added that these recent additions “represent an attractive opportunity for growth and continued expansion” in the North American market.

Assessing Canadians’ legal betting habits

Newly released data from Ipsos has found that nearly two months after the Ontario government launched a regulated online gambling market, Ontarians and Canadians are betting online more than ever, with 30 per cent saying they are registered on at least one legal website that offers online betting.

The Atlantic Canada region has the highest proportion of Canadian adults registered to play, at 41 per cent. British Columbia and Ontario are tied at 33 per cent, followed by Quebec at 26 per cent, Alberta at 24 per cent, and Manitoba/Saskatchewan at 22 per cent. The average Canadian who gambles online is registered with three or four websites, with 3.6 the national average. Again, Atlantic Canada leads the country on the number of websites used, at an average of 4.7, while Manitoba/Saskatchewan are the lowest at 2.7.

The data also found that, based on responses from 2,001 Canadians aged 18+, the percentage of Ontarians who have signed up with private gambling operators is nearly equal to the percentage who have registered with OLG.ca (25 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively), despite the private regulated market having only been open for six weeks at the time of the survey, which was conducted May 10-13.

This trend holds true across the country in almost every region except Quebec, where the Lotoquebec.com platform has a slight lead over non-government platforms with 23 per cent registration vs. 21 per cent.

When it comes to dollars and cents, Canadian online gamblers tend to favour private operator sites. Around 44 per cent of betting spending goes to one of the provincial government sites, while the rest (56 per cent) goes to private operator platforms. The biggest gap is in the prairies, where gamblers report giving just over 30 per cent of their gambling dollars to provincial government sites. Alberta and Manitoba were some of the last provinces in the country to offer government-built online gambling platforms, while Saskatchewan has yet to launch one at all.

In contrast, Ontario reportedly has 43 per cent of its gambling spend going to OLG.ca, while Atlantic Canada has 44 per cent going to ALC.ca. Quebec is the only province where the government site is favoured over the competition, with 57 per cent of spending going to Lotoquebec.com.

The Ipsos report notes that as more Canadians become aware of Ontario’s regulated market situation and are further exposed to private-operator advertising, those figures may change.

At the time of this survey, only one-quarter (26 per cent) said they are aware of the Ontario market changes, compared to 41 per cent of Ontarians. More than one-third (37 per cent) of those who were aware of the market shift said they are likely to do some online gambling in the next few months; much more than Canadians who aren’t aware of Ontario’s situation (14 per cent).

Ipsos also asked the 30 per cent of respondents who identified as registered online gamblers in Canada to compare provincially government-run sites with private operator sites on a host of factors, and found the following:

The site is trustworthy The site offers the best odds & payouts The site offers a wide range of bets The site has a user-friendly experience The site is easy to sign up and start betting
Government-owned sites are better 37% 21% 23% 23% 25%
Privately operated sites are better 24% 36% 30% 28% 27%
Both are about the same 39% 43% 47% 49% 48%

 

Source: Ipsos

BetRegal enters partnerships with Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

BetRegal, which is seeking a license to operate in the Ontario regulated online betting market, has announced separate partnerships with Canadian Football League franchises the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The partnership with the Blue Bombers, announced June 9, will see BetRegal, which is already the official online sports gaming partner of the CFL, sees the sportsbook become an official gaming partner of the franchise. The Blue Bombers say the partnership will will add to the fan engagement experience and will further inform fans on free-to-play gaming both in-stadium and online through activations and educational content. BetRegal will present game-day activations and giveaways and gaming content will be posted on bluebombers.com.

“This new partnership is a first for the Club and we are thrilled to have the great team at BetRegal onboard,” said Wade Miller, President & CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. “Together we will be able to offer fans the opportunity to learn about gaming and play for free whether online or right from the stadium on game days.”

In addition to the 12-time Grey Cup champion Blue Bombers, BetRegal has also signed a multi-year partnership with the Ticats.

The Ontario franchise wants three partners each at different tiers and investment levels, says BetRegal head of marketing Aly Lalani, which makes the deal different from the Bombers deals. BetRegal will be a first-tier partner and so has a full scope of operation in terms of activation space, branding on the field, using Ticats radio and the organization’s brand ambassadors, reports OntarioBets.

Winnipeg also has a multi-operator system, but one wherein the operators are pretty much equal. In contrast, BetRegal is more active and integrated, including an area outside Gate 4 where they can engage fans coming into the stadium. The fully involved activation will include turning a section of Tim Hortons Field into a BetRegal space or lounge area with signage around the whole section and on the seats to make it a purple-coloured “royal box”.

BetRegal, a Canadian Gaming Association member, is not yet licensed in Ontario. As a result, for now, its space at Tim Hortons Field will be a play-for-free area.

Image: Blue Bombers

SBC announces dates for Canadian Gaming Summit 2023

SBC, the leading international events and media business for the sports betting and iGaming industries, has announced that the Canadian Gaming Summit 2023 will be staged on June 13-15 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The 2023 edition of the long-established conference and trade show will see it undergo a major change, as it will be the Summit’s first year under SBC’s management.

SBC previously announced the agreement to acquire Canada’s premier annual conference and trade show for land-based and iGaming professionals from current joint owners the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) and MediaEdge Communications.

The acquisition will be completed after this year’s edition of the Summit, which takes place June 7-9, 2022. It features a conference program that covers the key issues arising from the significant recent regulatory changes in the country, with sessions on topics including taxation, advertising rules, integrity in sports, responsible gambling, new technology, and the future of sports betting and iGaming.

The CGA will continue to be involved as an official and strategic partner of the Summit from 2023 onwards and will work with SBC to ensure the event supports the continued development of the gaming industry in Canada.

Rasmus Sojmark, Founder & CEO of SBC, commented: “We are delighted to bring the Canadian Gaming Summit into the SBC portfolio in 2023. We are already working closely with the Canadian Gaming Association to continue to build upon what is already a great conference. The opportunities for exponential growth in what is already an exciting market are tremendous and we look forward to continuing to help the industry develop iGaming and sports betting in Canada.”

Canadian Gaming Association President & CEO Paul Burns commented: “We are excited for this year’s event and eagerly await what SBC will add to the show in the future. SBC’s global reach and multiple international conferences, like the SBC Summit North America, will provide us with greater opportunities to showcase Canada’s gaming industry and highlight our members’ success.”

SBC will be present at this year’s Canadian Gaming Summit in booths 808 & 809 where attendees and participating companies are invited to discuss ideas, the strategy, and future editions of the event.

Anyone interested in participating in this year’s Canadian Gaming Summit should contact MediaEdge directly or reach out to their SBC account manager.

Content and image via SBC

Inclusivity in gaming: more than a buzzword

By Tyjondah Kerr

To increase and further the gaming industry’s inclusivity, we need to look at it from three aspects: a player lens (external), an employee lens (internal), and that intersection of player/employee interaction.

We need to know who our players are and how they play to keep them at our sites and platforms,; and we need to make sure our employees know they are valued in our organizations and have a sense of belonging, and to ensure we know who they are and how to retain them. Then, when our employees are interacting with our players, the question becomes: does each side have the emotional intelligence and cultural competency to handle conflict with the other to resolve concerns?

Great results happen when we work to build an inclusive culture. We do this through curiosity and empathy. Curious empathy!

What is that? Well, it’s about being brave enough to ask the questions to which we don’t know the answers while also understanding how to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to be more knowledgeable about their lived experiences. That knowledge will help you figure out the diversity of your customers and employees and understand the impacts and barriers for them within your organization. Getting demographic data such as race and ethnicity, disability, gender, and others about your players and employees is extremely important to navigate the equity, diversity, and inclusion space. Data gives you an evidence-based approach to drive the gaming industry toward building inclusive cultures.

The data can show you gaps, and it is by closing these gaps that you will not only help sustain the success in this industry, but drive inclusion for the long term.

For example, in our brick-and-mortar facilities, we can assess how we are serving our customers across those differences? What is the level of cultural competency being passed from our employees to our customers? Cultural difference can be a barrier, so how are we giving our employees the tools to be culturally competent in order for us to eliminate conflict on the gaming floor? Are we teaching our employees empathy? A human-centric approach is what will keep your players loyal to your facilities and make sure you are equipping your employees with the right tools, such as emotional intelligence.

Consider, also, the future of gaming. The maturing and future generations will only work and play at organizations that align with their social values. Well-being is a high priority for them, so evaluate the key questions. Is your environment a flexible one? Do your benefits offer programs based on individuals’ needs? How are you evolving your brand to show them that you are socially responsible? It is such a competitive market for attracting talent and players. If you are feeling the pinch, work on an inclusivity strategy!

If you are wondering where to start, I’d suggest collecting the evidence in a safe way. Listen to what your employees and your players are telling you. Then, be authentic in your response and make changes.

This is not the time to be performative; this is the time to be thought leaders in the space and change the game in gaming. Create spaces where employees can be their best. That can be as simple as having a gender-neutral washroom or having a courageous conversation on race or accessibility. Expanding your player base will mean attracting more folks to your brand. The more inclusive you can be, the more people will be inclined to work and play with you.

It does not have to be complicated. Start the work and the rest will come. I have been in this industry for over 25 years and my colleagues and mentors have been innovative, thoughtful leaders. Now, we must push a little harder to ensure that inclusivity is always top of mind.

Tyjondah Kerr is the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. She was a featured speaker on the topic of diversity and inclusion in gaming at the 2022 Canadian Gaming Summit.