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Loto-Québec launches first-ever branded slot game

Loto-Québec has announced the launch of its first-ever branded slot game as an extension of its existing partnership with developer 1×2 Network.

The independent software company based in the UK and the crown corporation initially joined forces back in 2020. Now, Quebec players will be able to experience online slots via 1×2’s Branded Megaways, which allows operators to leverage the huge popularity of Big Time Gaming’s revolutionary mechanic by launching their own unique slot.

Branded Megaways provides regional operators with the chance to customize certain design aspects, such as incorporating their own logo or colour scheme. Loto-Québec will therefore get the freedom to create its own personality, character, and voice within the Megaways title.

Loto-Québec has also confirmed a separate partnership with US-based slot-maker High 5 Games that will see it launch the brand’s titles on its online casino platform.

The deal marks High 5’s first foray into the Canadian market. Its most popular titles, including “Secrets of the Forest Extreme” and “Triple Double Da Vinci Diamonds”, are expected to be added to Quebec’s official iGaming site.

In a third content move, the crown corporation has also renewed its existing deal with Instant Win Gaming (IWG) to continue the latter’s supply of InstantGames digital eInstant suite of games. IWG also recently renewed its deal with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.

Auston Matthews signs with grey-market betting operator

Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has become the first active NHLer to sign an endorsement deal with a betting company.

However, as Ontario gears up to open up a regulated sports betting market that would bring revenues back into the province, Matthews’ decision to sign with a grey-market operate may ruffle some feathers.

Per Sports Handle, Matthews has signed with Bet99, a sportsbook in Canada that is not currently licensed to take bets in Ontario. The deal, which is believed to be worth seven figures over three years, will see Matthews promote only Bet99’s free-to-play site in Ontario.

The company’s pay-to-play site is licensed in Canada by the Kahnawá:ke Gaming Commission, a Quebec-based tribal regulating authority. It is currently unknown if Bet99 has applied for an Ontario license to operate.

Matthews joins Canadian UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre as a Bet99 ambassador, and the company is also partnered with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes and Canadian soccer club CF Montreal.

On Oct. 22, 2021, the National Hockey League Players’ Association had struck a deal with the league that allowed players to pursue advertising and promotional opportunities relating to sportsbooks, under the condition that both single-event betting and those endorsements are legal in the jurisdiction where the betting entity operates.

Quebec casinos will reopen on February 28

Loto-Québec will be welcoming customers back to Quebec casinos from February 28, the crown corporation has announced.

Gamblers will be allowed back to the Montreal, Charlevoix, and Lac-Leamy casinos and the Quebec City and Trois-Rivières gaming rooms from the final day of the month. The Casino de Mont-Tremblant will follow a few days later on March 3.

This announcement comes after the province confirmed loosened COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month.

Loto-Québec will also reactivate the video lottery terminals in the bars when they reopen and will resume Kinzo operations.

Noting that its top priority is “to ensure that its resumption of operations is as healthy and safe as possible for all employees and customers, in a pleasant and entertaining environment”, Loto-Québec confirmed that major restrictions will be in place, including mandatory proof of vaccination and masks.

Capacity at casinos will be limited to 50 per cent.

Quebec had ordered all casinos to shut down by December 20 amid what was then a surge in Omicron variant COVID0-19 cases.

“The alternation between opening and closing periods has been hard on employee morale, while Loto-Québec has been forced to make temporary layoffs,” said Loto-Québec president and CEO Jean-Francois Bergeron, per CTV News. “You’re already affected by the pandemic, but you’re also affected in terms of your job and your income.”

Loto-Quebec considering crypto in the future

Meanwhile, Bergeron hinted the crown corporation is considering introducing cryptocurrency payments for its consumers.

“It will have to be in the cards for the next few years,” he said. “Because the cryptocurrency, I think it is a lever. Banks are becoming more and more interested in it. Governments are getting more and more interested in it… The payment experience is now part of the thinking that organizations that have to interact with consumers are thinking about and putting a lot of effort into.”

Alberta draws interest from major North American market players

Since the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) issued a request for proposals (RFP) in December 2021, looking for two companies to work with the province’s casino operators in developing sports betting in the province, numerous major players in the US and prospective Canadian market appear to have expressed interest.

Proposals were accepted until February 14, a date delayed from January 31 due to high interest in the Alberta market.

While it’s unclear at this stage which companies may have actually applied, Covers reports that the RFP’s list of “interested vendors” includes some of the biggest brand names in sports betting, such as BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Meanwhile, PointsBet has also recently expressed its desire to focus on Albertan opportunities after receiving registration for the Ontario market.

Joining that list are prominent technology companies like IGT and Kambi, as well as several Canadian lottery corporations as well as various other types of businesses and service providers.

AGLC is aiming to launch the new retail and online sportsbooks later in 2022 and will continue its vetting and evaluation processes over the next several months.

“Currently, AGLC does not announce the number of organizations who submitted proposals or their identities,” said Karin Campbell, manager of communications at the agency, per Covers. “As AGLC awards the contracts to the successful proponents, an announcement will be made communicating the vendors to the public. That announcement is expected in the second half of 2022.”

Currently, the only authorized sources of sports wagering in Alberta are AGLC’s PlayAlberta website and Western Canada Lottery Corp.’s games offered via certain brick-and-mortar retailers.

AGLC wants to provide a core betting service that could be used by the province’s 28 casinos in the form of retail and mobile sportsbooks and could potentially be adopted by the province’s professional sports franchises down the line. That set-up would be unique in Canada, where most provinces have allowed their government-owned lottery and gaming corporations to act as the only legal provider of sports betting, but would be distinctly different to the open model in the works in Ontario.

Horse racing ready to be a major sports betting player, says Woodbine CEO

As Ontario gears up to launch its regulated online gaming and sports betting market on April 4, Woodbine Entertainment Group CEO Jim Lawson is adamant that racetracks and entertainment centres are ready and waiting to be a key part of the rollout.

“We’ve got the deepest physical sportsbook localities in the entire province when you think of Woodbine, Mohawk, Greenwood, WEGZ,” Lawson told Canadian Thoroughbred. “There is an opportunity for the government and for the racetrack industry.”

Lawson, a longtime advocate for horse racing’s role in Canadian gaming, emphasized that Woodbine group seems to tick all the boxes for what Ontario and Canada appear to be looking for in a licensed operator. It is a Canadian company with a nonprofit mandate, good technology, and a familiar relationship with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

“There’s no reason whatsoever to think that sportsbooks should be going to casinos or just to casinos,” he added. “We acknowledge there could be competition. We’re not looking for exclusives on sportsbooks, but we’re basically turnkey on sportsbooks.”

On top of its own 48 Champions Teletheatres, Woodbine-operated HorsePlayer Interactive (HPI) has deals with all the tracks in Ontario, offering the potential for sportsbooks at tracks around the province, from Ottawa to Hamilton to London.

Lawson noted that makes Woodbine group is a strong candidate to set up on-location sportsbooks across the province to provide the greatest return on the proceeds of sports betting for the government. However, he admitted concern that Ontario’s model may shut horse racing out of the sports betting game by focusing on casinos, a model chiefly demonstrated in Las Vegas and the U.S. but by no means universal across other jurisdictions. 

“A lot of the sports betting operators across the world find their origins in horse racing when you think of the big names like William Hill and Tabcorp and others,” Lawson added. “They are all horse racing operators… I think there’s a misconception that somehow sportsbooks and sports betting goes with casinos… If you think of the ways that sports betting operates in the United Kingdom, in particular, and in Ireland and France and Australia, it’s a coordinated sportsbook… It’s all horse racing and sports betting. It’s not this concept that somewhere casinos have sportsbooks.”

Lawson stressed there are multiple advantages of ensuring horse racing is at the sports betting table. Not only would it prevent damage to the racing industry, but it would help to reduce its reliance on government subsidies and support.

“There’s a real opportunity for the government to earn money and, at the same time, support the horse racing industry and start to chip away at eliminating altogether the subsidy for horse racing. Put horse racing on independent, healthier grounds.”

Woodbine has already seen success in getting Canada’s single-event sports betting bill, passed in late August, amended to ensure racetracks’ own pari-mutuel model continued to be viable. “Woodbine worked very hard to lobby and have the government understand that unfettered, unconditional sports betting coming into Canada would destroy the horse racing business,” said Lawson. “They listened. They pulled pari-mutuel wagering out of the sports betting legislation. That was a good start.”

RELATED: Woodbine takes North America’s largest 2021 handle

Lawson emphasized that Woodbine Entertainment Group could be ready to open bricks-and-mortar sportsbook locations almost immediately if authorized to do so, and noted that the group’s Champions lounges in particular are virtually already there in terms of the infrastructure required. He would like Ontario to follow the New Jersey model that does not require a casino on-site at the racetrack, and suggested that either Woodbine group could operate its own sportsbook or the group could unite with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) or other partners to ingrate HPI into their existing operations.

Either way, he concluded, ensuring horse racing is brought firmly into the fold is “critical” to its future.

“We need to play a role in sports betting and we will. We’re working with the regulators to ensure that we can integrate. But we’re serving a major retail sports betting network on a silver platter that will generate huge amounts of revenue to the government.”

Strive Gaming to power Golden Nugget’s planned Ontario launch

iGaming technology provider Strive Gaming has agreed a deal to provide its player account management (PAM) platform to Golden Nugget Online Gaming’s (GNOG) operations in Ontario, as well as the U.S. state of Arizona.

Strive Gaming’s PAM will initially power GNOG’s online sportsbook launch in Arizona, followed by a planned launch in Ontario, where GNOG is seeking an iGaming licence.

“As we rapidly expand our online presence across North America, GNOG needed a PAM partner who could quickly integrate and launch our chosen sports betting engine, without sacrificing any of the flexibility or functionality expected from a top-tier PAM,” said Golden Nugget Online Gaming president Thomas Winter. “We are confident in our choice of Strive Gaming and have been very impressed with what we’ve witnessed from both the team, and the platform, to date.”

Strive Gaming CEO Max Meltzer added: “The Golden Nugget Online Gaming team is one of the most experienced online operators in the US. After a thorough examination of the PAM supplier market, GNOG’s choice of Strive is a testament to what we have developed and are now capable of offering via our North American focused services and solutions.”

The Strive PAM is specially developed to meet the compliance needs of “post-PASPA” North American digital operators who desire to conduct a unified customer experience across multiple U.S. states. It runs through the Infinity Engine, a flexible rules-based engine bringing operator insights and customer relationship management closer to real-time player data.

Six Nations and Kahnawà:ke unite on gaming

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nations have announced they have entered a mutual cooperation agreement which they say will “strengthen our joint efforts in defending our interests”.

Both parties say the agreement will “defend, by any means possible, our Indigenous jurisdiction over gaming” as well as the socio-economic benefits that the communities get from their gaming industry.

The partnership facilitates a memorandum of understanding between each community’s gaming regulatory bodies and creates a space where discussions on potential mutually beneficial opportunities in the iGaming industry can occur.

“Today’s agreement signifies an important milestone as our communities come together to address our collective concerns,” said Six Nations Chief Mark Hill. “This type of partnership is the first step in demonstrating the possibilities of what we can achieve as Iroquois communities if we work together.  We are much stronger not as individuals, but as a collective, and these relationships will strengthen us as we assert our rights and jurisdiction within the gaming industry and beyond.”

Both communities argue that the recent changes to Canada’s Criminal Code and gaming industry has “effectively shut out First Nations by willfully ignoring the legitimate interests of indigenous peoples in the gaming industry”. They have been critical of Ontario’s iGaming model, which they say “will not benefit SNGR or Kahnawà:ke’s socio-economic business, Mohawk Online, as it closes off access to one of its largest local markets”.

Hill added the communities are “disheartened” to learn the Ontario government has moved forward with its iGaming initiative without holding meaningful consultation with First Nations communities in the gaming market. In particular, Six Nations and Kahnawà:ke say that iGaming Ontario’s roadmap will negatively impact Mohawk Online, an online gaming service featuring sports betting, casino and poker games owned by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and “closes off access to one of its largest local markets.”

“Gaming is not new to Six Nations of the Grand River,” Hill added, per the Brantford Expositor. “It’s an activity that Haudenosaunee people have done for centuries; long before European contact; long before Canada was a country; long before Ontario was a province, and, certainly, long before the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario was established.”

The Six Nations Gaming Commission was created in 1996 to regulate and license gaming in the territory. Since that time, says Hill, the proceeds from those gaming activities “have had an incredible socio-economic impact to the benefit of our community – but so much more is possible.”

The First Nations communities will collaborate on legal, political, and public relations strategies to defend their respective jurisdictions and interests in the gaming industry, as well as welcome other Indigenous communities to the collaboration. They will also begin development on a national body of Indigenous gaming regulators.

IGT launches Wheel of Fortune bingo for Ontario’s charitable gaming market

International Game Technology has announced that it is launching its top-performing Wheel of Fortune-branded games as a premium electronic bingo game in Ontario’s charitable gaming market.

The Wheel of Fortune Double 3X4X5X Pay Bingo and Five Times Pay Bingo are now available to the 37 community gaming centres in Ontario that are approved for electronic bingo.

IGT is also signing agreements with individual operators.

“The introduction of IGT’s premium-branded Wheel of Fortune titles as electronic cabinet bingo games has the opportunity to engage new and existing players in Ontario’s charitable gaming market,” said David Fraser, Senior Director, Charitable Gaming, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), in a release. “These exciting additions will elevate gameplay and create additional product choice for our service providers which all contribute to strengthening charitable gaming and raising money for local charities.”

“IGT is committed to enhancing the player experience for Ontario’s charitable gaming market, through the addition of Wheel of Fortune-branded electronic bingo games,” said David Flinn, IGT Regional Vice President, Canada, South and Central America. “IGT will continue developing new products with innovative technology, and contemporary play styles to support the important work of charitable bingo halls throughout Ontario.”

IGT has been a partner of the OLG for over two decades and has been supplying electronic bingo games in the market since 2018. It licenses the Wheel of Fortune brand from Sony Pictures Television and has created more than 250 versions of the branded games since 1996.

Canadian lottery sportsbooks reap reward of Super Bowl betting

Provincial lottery corporations’ sportsbook offerings had a very successful Super Bowl LVI, the first NFL showpiece game with single-event betting on offer in Canada, as betting records were broken across the country.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) all took record handles from the event on February 13, thanks in no small part to being able to take single-game wagers from sports bettors in their respective jurisdictions.

According to early data cited by Sports Handle, Super Bowl LVI saw an average Canadian audience of 8.1 million viewers, with roughly 45 per cent of the population tuning in at some point throughout the evening.

Provincial lottery corporations also put up their own impressive numbers.

Unsurprisingly, given its population, Ontario’s bettors made up the overwhelming majority of Canadians wagering on the Super Bowl.

OLG’s PROLINE +, the first official sportsbook partner of the NFL in Canada, had more than 80 betting options for the Super Bowl and offered a pair of promotions, including matching first deposits up to $500 for new users and a $100 sports bonus on wagers placed specifically on the Super Bowl.

While OLG did not report specific financial details, it said it saw a “significant number” of new customers sign up on PROLINE + due to the promotions. Live in-play markets accounted for roughly 10 per cent of total sales.

OLG said that, among other conclusions, the coin toss was a “very” popular market with PROLINE players (top-five in total sales), and “Gatorade colour” was another popular market.

Meanwhile, in the Maritimes, ALC’s PRO•LINE continued its annual trend of setting new single-day revenue on Super Bowl day, comfortably setting new high-water marks for handle, profit, online revenue, and active bettors. PRO•LINE is available to bettors in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Singles bets were on offer in all of those provinces after Nova Scotia became the final Canadian province to go live with single-event betting just days before the Super Bowl. Singles made up almost 40 per cent of Nova Scotia’s Super Bowl bets, according to ALC Sports Betting Manager Scott Eagles, per Sports Handle. Overall, half of PRO•LINE’s online handle for the Super Bowl, and over a quarter at retail, came from singles.

ALC offered over 50 props for the game, and the sportsbook turned some nice profits on its heaviest-bet props. For ALC, too, the “coin toss” bet was hugely popular.

On the other coast, in British Columbia, more than 70,000 bets were placed on BCLC’s PlayNow platform, totalling approximately $2.1 million. That was more than double the amount wagered on last year’s Super Bowl.

Image: NFL Canada

US gaming revenue shatters annual record

2021 set a new record as the highest-grossing year ever for the U.S. commercial gaming industry, reaching US$53 billion in gaming revenue.

According to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, that total breaks 2019’s previous industry record of US$44 billion by more than 21 per cent.

With most jurisdictions now fully open for business and the country’s iGaming and sports betting industries taking further steps, the year ended on a high note, setting an all-time quarterly gaming revenue record in Q4 2021 of US$14.31 billion.

Of the 34 operational commercial gaming jurisdictions in 2021 — including four new markets — 23 set individual records for full-year commercial gaming revenue. On a national level, every commercial gaming vertical set new annual revenue records.

Traditional brick-and-mortar gaming led the industry’s recovery, with 2021 combined slot and table gaming revenue totalling US$44.94 billion, a 6.6 per cent increase over 2019’s previous record.

Sports betting’s growth accelerated in 2021, taking huge leaps to generate US$57.22 billion in handle and US$4.29 billion in revenue — jumps of 165 per cent and 177 per cent over 2020, respectively.

AGA President and CEO Bill Miller called the results “nothing short of remarkable”.

Though he warned that the industry’s total recovery is still reliant on the full return of travel and large events, he expressed optimism that 2022 will prove to yield continued growth.

“Our incredible rate of recovery sets us apart from others in the hospitality sector and the broader economy,” he added, per Forbes. “I’m really optimistic about where we’re headed. That optimism is rooted in our industry’s extraordinary recovery, topping $50 billion for the first time ever.”

The sector’s all-time high was boosted by the launch of seven new commercial sports betting markets in Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming, adding to the strong demand seen in established markets like Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Two new iGaming markets, Connecticut and Michigan, also opened in 2021, helping the sector to a record US$3.71 billion in revenue. Combined sports betting and iGaming revenue for the year totalled US$8 billion, up 158 per cent from 2020 and accounting for a record 15.1 per cent of annual industry gaming revenue.

“That’s just the beginning,” Miller added, per Covers. “Sports betting in Nebraska and Ohio will come online and Maryland’s mobile launch is in the works. Seven new states are considering sports betting legislation this year, and four states are considering iGaming.”

All of these figures do not even include the handle and revenue seen by Native American casinos and sports-betting operations. Miller noted that tribal leaders have indicated that 2021 was also their best year on record.