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PointsBet confirms tech error to blame for Mixi takeover voting farce

After a farcical voting mix-up at a PointsBet shareholders’ meeting, Mixi’s takeover of the online gambling operator has failed — for now.

But the Japanese entertainment company will file an alternative off-market acquisition offer for the Australian sportsbook after a voting recount demanded by rival bidder Betr Entertainment determined that its initial scheme proposal had not received the requisite majority approval.

PointsBet confirmed on Thursday that the proxy vote from Betr, which owns 19.9% of PointsBet shares, was in fact excluded due to a system error. Share registry company Computershare took the blame for the mix-up.

The first vote’s results showed that 95.7% of PointsBet’s shareholders had approved Mixi’s $402 million AUD offer at the June 25 meeting. PointsBet had already entered a bid implementation deed with Mixi and secured approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

But something was clearly amiss with that percentage, given that Betr had vowed to vote its entire shareholding against that offer. A recount showed that it actually only received 70.5% backing, which makes more sense given Betr’s stake in its fellow Australian operator. That was below the 75% required to pass decisions at the shareholder level.

Another fine mess

After those initial results on Wednesday, Betr complained that its votes were “impermissibly excluded” with “no basis for doing so.”

PointsBet retorted that Betr’s statement was “factually inaccurate and without basis” and initially claimed that Betr itself had revoked the proxy it had previously lodged and did not cast a vote at the meeting.

Betr dismissed that as entirely incorrect.

PointsBet must do better, says betr

In its own statement on Thursday, after PointsBet had confirmed the vote count error and that the Mixi takeover actually failed, Betr accused the firm of “unprofessional and irresponsible” conduct.

“There is an ongoing contested auction for control of PointsBet,” Betr noted. “…  It was incumbent on PointsBet to undertake further inquiries prior to announcing the results of the scheme vote. In the circumstances, Betr considers the approach taken by PointsBet (including by subsequently making assertions to the ASX and to media as to the conduct of betr in relation to the vote) was unprofessional and irresponsible, reflecting a failure of appropriate governance, and not merely an error by Computershare as PointsBet has suggested.”

Betr added that the company remains concerned that the PointsBet board is seeking to transfer control to Mixi “without allowing a genuine contest to take place.”

So, what next?

While the recount meant Mixi’s scheme resolution was not carried forward, the company is pushing ahead with an alternative off-market all-cash takeover offer of $1.20 AUD per PointsBet share, which amounts to the same $402 million AUD total valuation. That will be followed by another vote.

The latest offer will require a 50.1% minimum acceptance from PointsBet shareholders as well as certain regulatory approvals, including in Ontario, where PointsBet offers both online sports betting and online casino gaming in the province’s highly lucrative regulated market.

Mixi said the PointsBet board has agreed to unanimously recommend that shareholders approve the offer. “We look forward to progressing the takeover offer in a timely manner and paying PointsBet shareholders promptly in cash for their shares as and when the conditions to the offer are satisfied,” said the company.

While that is all going on, Betr is not backing down; the operator will continue to prepare its own takeover offer to submit directly to PointsBet shareholders.

Why should the Canadian industry care?

PointsBet operates only in Australia and Ontario, and the Canadian province is the only market in which it offers online casino gaming as well as sports betting. The company has confirmed several times it plans to enter Alberta when that province launches commercial online gambling next year.

However, Betr’s bid includes a non-binding proposal from Hard Rock Digital to acquire “certain assets which relate to PointsBet’s Canadian operations.” Betr Chair Matthew Tripp said earlier this year that those assets largely comprise a player database.

CGS: Québec coalition urges province to learn from Ontario and Alberta

As Ontario looks back at three years of regulated online gambling and Alberta gears up to open its market in 2026, the Québec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC) and other iGaming advocates have urged the Francophone province to heed lessons from across borders and stop missing out on huge revenues.

Québec remains a Loto-Québec monopoly when it comes to regulated online gambling. How well it is doing as an operator depends on who you ask.

The crown corporation, which serves as both the market regulator and the sole recognized operator in the province, this month posted fiscal year 2024–25 results that it called excellent. Total revenues were nearly $3 billion and consolidated net income exceeded $1.5 billion, both small increases from the previous year.

However, the QOGC contends the results suggest Loto-Québec “has shown no progress this year,” and argued that net income remains stagnant and is the latest step in a long-term decline when adjusted for inflation.

It’s worth noting in the below graphic that 2021 and 2022 were heavily COVID-impacted years for the industry.

 

Image: Loto-Québec (top), QOGC (bottom)

 

Loto-Québec and its President Jean-François Bergeron have pegged the crown corporation’s market share of online gambling in the province at just below 50%. Data provided to Canadian Gaming Business last fall by research firm H2 Gambling Capital suggested it held around 44% of the online gambling market (not including lottery) last year.

‘Leaving lot of money on table’

At the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto, QOGC spokesperson Ariane Gauthier, TRM Public Affairs President and Canadian Online Gaming Alliance spokesperson Troy Ross and Rubicon Strategy President Patrick Harris gave their takes on the state of online gaming in Québec, as well as numerous other provinces.

There, Ross presented research data which suggested that only around 27% of all online gambling in Québec takes place with Loto-Québec, leaving approximately 73% being conducted on unregulated platforms.

While that was not the worst split among the regions highlighted by Ross, the estimates suggested that Québec is missing out on more potential gross gaming revenue for operators and more potential tax revenue than any other province assessed.

 

Image: SBC

 

“The evidence suggests they’re a long, long way from 40 or 50 or 60% market channelization,” Ross told the room. “Point is, these jurisdictions are leaving a lot of money on the table.”

With Gauthier present, the conversation quickly centred around Québec.

“Even if we take Loto-Québec’s claim to capture 60 or 50% of the market, it still leaves half of the players in an unregulated market,” she said. “That’s not acceptable. That’s not enough. Even in the best-case scenario, it’s not enough.”

‘Ontario story not told properly’

In her role with the QOGC, Gauthier speaks on behalf of the coalition’s member operators including DraftKings, FanDuel parent Flutter, BetMGM co-owner Entain, BetRivers owner Rush Street Interactive, Super Group’s Betway and Canadian brand Bet99.

All of those operators are licensed and active in the Ontario market, currently the only one in Canada in which commercial sportsbooks and online casinos are regulated and authorized to compete with the government’s own platform.

Ontario, as is well documented by both official numbers and research, boasts more than 80% of all online gambling play on regulated platforms. As the market has grown in gambling volume and revenue year by year, Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s (OLG) has been applauded for not only keeping pace but growing its own key metrics.

“What OLG has been able to do is demonstrate to other lottery corporations that this isn’t a big scary thing,” noted Harris on the CGS panel. “Lottery corporations can grow their market share and earn more revenue, all while taking in unregulated play and earning that extra revenue, as has been demonstrated in Ontario.”

As Gauthier sees it, the problem is that Québec is not well enough informed about that success story.

“As a monopoly and a corporation that wants to keep a monopoly — and that’s normal — [Loto-Québec] choose what kind of information they bring,” Gauthier told Canadian Gaming Business in a sit-down interview at CGS. “They don’t have an advantage to advertise the fact that the regulating private operation in Ontario is working.

“That’s why Quebecers are not presented with, I think, a fair perspective of what is going on in Ontario and how this system has helped channel the grey market, has improved their responsible gaming environment. If you only protect 20 or 25% of the players, how good is this? We have to talk about the success of the Ontario model and how it could benefit.”

“There is a kind of myth of distorted reality.”

Québec Online Gaming Coalition’s Ariane Gauthier

Part of the challenges, she suggested, lie in the socio-political makeup of Québec. Gauthier, who formerly held a number of roles within the provincial government, argued the province is fond of its government and its institutions, with a population that has a strong sense of Québecois identity and with a disproportionately high number of baby boomers.

“There is not a large appetite for change or uncertainty,” she told CGB. “There is a kind of myth of distorted reality that the coalition is quick to correct. We say, ‘please pay attention to this.’ The Ontario story is not told properly, and we try to change that.”

Alberta may put Québec efforts into overdrive

Ontario will not be Québec’s only example for much longer.

Before too long — early in 2026, says the government — Alberta will also launch regulated online gambling. There, unlike Ontario, the current monopoly operator, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), will also be the market regulator.

“Alberta’s case is very interesting for Québec, because Play Alberta is both the regulator and the operator, and it’s the same situation with Loto-Québec,” Gauthier noted to CGB. “That’s not how you build confidence, it’s not a proper governance structure. So, Alberta, I hope they will address this issue. All operators, public or private, should respond to the same rules and to an independent regulator. So I think Alberta’s case will bring this specific issue, and an example for Québec.”

Recent data from both Ross and the Canadian Gaming Association, in collaboration with Ipsos, have suggested that more than any other province, the vast majority of online gambling in Alberta takes place in the unregulated market. It is estimated that around 90% of Alberta online gamblers use unlicensed sites in the province.

“[Regulated online gambling] is not something crazy to do.”

Gauthier

Gauthier knows things will not move quickly in Québec. But she hopes that once Alberta launches, and once indications of how much play has been brought over from the unregulated market starts to emerge, it may force the issue.

“What we have to do to move the needle is to show how the current situation doesn’t respond to the current challenge,” she said. “Actually, it’s not relevant anymore. And the more examples we can show — this is what happened in Ontario, this is what happened in Alberta, this is what happened in other countries — the more examples and data points you get, the more reassuring it is.

“It’s not something crazy to do. It’s been tested elsewhere, even in Canada in the same legal framework. So I think that’s where we can bring change.”

Record-breaking Canadian Gaming Summit set to rebrand as SBC Summit Canada

The 2025 Canadian Gaming Summit concluded last week, breaking attendance records and setting the stage for the event’s evolution into SBC Summit Canada.

In what marked both a culmination and a turning point, the 28th and final edition under the current name brought together key stakeholders from across Canada and beyond to reflect on challenges and chart a future course for the country’s gaming industry.

“There are always moves and changes within the industry, so this is the perfect venue for us to collaborate, collaborate with the operators, collaborate with the providers, just to see what’s going on, what’s coming up and really being able to exchange ideas,” Gigadat Inc. COO Cliff Nywening said of the event.

Over the course of two days, the summit welcomed over 3,000 professionals, 40% of whom held key decision-making roles. The event also featured strong representation from operators and affiliates, with 1,000 operator representatives and 200 affiliates in attendance.

In addition, the event welcomed delegates, including leading suppliers, game studios, regulators and government bodies.

The high caliber of attendees was a point noted by many, including Nywening.

“Size doesn’t really matter, it’s about the quality. You’ve got quality attendees, quality vendors exhibiting, that’s all that makes a good event.”

“We have been at the helm of the Canadian Gaming Summit for three years now, and every year we have worked tirelessly to evolve this event that was already loved by many,” noted SBC CEO and Founder Rasmus Sojmark.

“This year has undoubtedly been our most successful yet. The feedback I’ve received has been incredible—conference rooms were full, the show floor was alive with conversation and our networking parties were by far the most memorable to date. I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended.”

Serving as a platform to explore the current challenges and future opportunities in the Canadian market, the event’s three-stage conference programme featured 150 industry experts covering key topics such as leadership, sports betting and casino, player protection, affiliation and advertising and payments and compliance. The event also featured a dedicated Cybersecurity Symposium in partnership with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

Amongst the notable figures that took the stage was Duncan Hannay (President, OLG), who kicked off the conference with an opening address, followed directly by Honourable Doug Downey (Attorney General, Ontario), who partook in a fireside chat. In the afternoon, delegates were treated to a special keynote panel with Dale Nally (Minister for Service & Red Tape Reduction, Alberta).

“What I’ve been very surprised by is the attention on the panels and the quality of the panelists… the collaboration between the regulators, like the AGCO and the operators. It’s amazing to see,” observed Game Lounge Director of Casino Keith Geary.

The show floor served as the heart of the event, hosting a number of local and global brands and giving attendees ample choices and opportunities to explore the products that can power their presence in Canada.

The show floor also gave new market entrants a chance to introduce themselves and build a foothold in the Canadian market.

“We are new to the Canadian market, and trying to make a splash here. To have so many people engage with us, come by, be curious, and even interact with some of our goods. It definitely gives us a lot of encouragement about the market as a whole,” Head of External Affairs at Lotto.com Kweku Separu-Grant.

This sentiment was echoed by Maverick Games CEO Matt Rathburn.

“You’ll really find everybody that you would need to connect with. If you’re going to launch a new site, you could probably start here and collect all the different pieces that you need to put it all together.”

Alongside the networking opportunities on the show floor, the Canadian Gaming Summit also featured two dedicated evening networking events.

On Tuesday, delegates gathered at the RS Sports Bar for the SBC Canadian Gaming Summit opening party. The evening featured a live screening of the Stanley Cup Final Game 6 between the Florida Panthers and Canada’s own Edmonton Oilers.

The following night, delegates were treated to a memorable experience at the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame for the official networking party. Attendees explored the iconic museum celebrating Canada’s national sport, took part in interactive virtual hockey activations and had the chance to meet NHL and Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark.

“Our Canada event has earned its place among the SBC Summits. We’re rebranding it as SBC Summit Canada to better align with our global event portfolio and deliver the signature SBC experience. We hope to see you next year.” Sojmark added.

Save the date: SBC Summit Canada will take place in Toronto on May 19 to 21, 2026. For exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected]

Atlantic Lottery and IGT shake hands on 8-year tech deal

The Atlantic Lottery (ALC) has signed an eight-year deal with IGT Canada Solutions that will see the lottery deploy IGT’s IntelligenEVO video lottery central system technology across Atlantic Canada.

In doing so, ALC will become the first World Lottery Association-affiliated lottery operator to deploy IGT’s next-generation central management system in a game-to-system (G2S) distributed market.

G2S is an open standards protocol for the casino gaming industry developed by the Gaming Standards Association that allows gaming machines to communicate with back-office management systems.

IGT markets IntelligenEVO as a reliable, scalable solution for casino gaming operators which accelerates time-to-market and enables operators such as ALC to benefit from a suite of player-focused functionality. The technology’s G2S and open API design optimizes data collection and delivery and will enable Atlantic Lottery to customize its program for evolving player needs.

A news release confirmed that the agreement between ALC and IGT includes the option for multiple extensions.

“By leveraging IGT’s IntelligenEVO technology, Atlantic Lottery will power its video lottery network with the industry’s best-in-class central system and position itself to maximize future contributions to good causes,” said Michael MacKinnon, the lottery’s VP of product. “As an organization that prioritizes system security and exceptional player experiences, Atlantic Lottery believes that IGT’s IntelliegnEVO solution will help generate high player satisfaction and optimal network performance.”

“As a long-time supplier to Atlantic Lottery, IGT looks forward to helping the Lottery achieve its growth and player engagement goals with our leading-edge IntelligenEVO video lottery central system,” said IGT SVP Canada, EMEA and LATAM, Gaming Sales, David Flinn. “IGT’s IntelligenEVO is a scalable technology for the WLA market that is backed by decades of experience and operator feedback, and maximizes the benefits of real-time data, cloud-based technologies and in-depth analytics.”

Atlantic Lottery and IGT no strangers

IGT already provides the lottery with more than 6,000 video lottery terminals across four Atlantic Canada provinces using its advanced lottery central system.

Last year, the two organizations announced they would together launch cloud-based games and features for players in the region. Via IGT’s advanced cloud-based remote game server (RGS), the lottery gained access to IGT’s portfolio of digital instant games and content, including a range of omnichannel games, licensed content and progressive jackpot games.

The deal included a commitment to launch at least 16 digital instant games each year.

Bodog muzzles itself in Manitoba after court injunction

Bodog has blocked access in Manitoba weeks after Canadian lottery corporations won a court-ordered injunction against the offshore online gambling operator.

As of June 25, the platform’s real-money bodog.eu site notes that it “accepts players from all across Canada, except for those residing in the provinces of Manitoba, Québec and Nova Scotia.”

Bodog blocking players in Manitoba was a direct order handed down by a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench judge in late May as part of the injunction granted to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL). MBLL took Bodog’s parent company, Il Nido Ltd. and its Canadian trademark owner Sanctum IP Holdings Ltd. to court late January on behalf of the Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC).

“This court orders and declares that the respondents have no lawful authority to offer online gambling products and services, whether through bodog.eu, bodog.net or any other related successor or replacement websites, or to advertise such online products and services to persons located in Manitoba, as such activities are contrary to sections 201, 202, and 206 of the Criminal Code,” stated Judge Jeffrey Harris’ order, which was obtained at the time by Canadian Gaming Business.

bodog.eu is the site on which the Antigua and Barbuda-based operator takes cash bets on online sports betting and online casino games from registered users. The company’s bodog.net site is ostensibly primarily used for free play. Such non-cash gaming sites can also help advertise their real-money counterparts.

The injunction order also states that Bodog’s advertising to Manitobans constituted a false and misleading representation contrary to the Competition Act, as well as a false description of its goods and services that was likely to mislead the public in violation of the Trademarks Act.

The judge is expected to provide his written reasoning for approving the injunction any day now.

What did the injunction demand?

The injunction required Bodog’s operators, affiliates, employees and representatives to cease operating and advertising bodog.eu “or any website offering substantially the same or similar products and services” in a manner accessible to persons located in Manitoba.

Bodog may not advertise to anyone via TV, streaming, website, social media networks, radio stations or in person at events or public forums.

In addition, Bodog was told to implement geo-blocking technology on the real-money bodog.eu site to prevent anyone located in Manitoba from engaging in any way with online gambling products or services offered by the companies.

The injunction only ordered action regarding the .eu site, but the .net site was also cited by the judge as being in breach.

A precedent set?

The injunction handed down to Bodog relates only to the operator’s activities within the province of Manitoba.

However, in February, a CLC spokesperson told Canadian Gaming Business that it and its members — MBLL, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan and Loto-Québec — are “committed to the idea of addressing unlawful gambling through all available means on a pan-national basis.”

“It fits within a broader set of activities undertaken since the coalition was first formed, always with the same overarching goals in mind: namely, to curtail illegal online gambling across Canada, to create a safer online gaming landscape for Canadians and to protect Canadians against the wide array of illegal sites that operate with no federal or provincial regulatory oversight and aren’t bound by anti-money laundering legislation,” the CLC added at the time.

Could Ontario act next?

Bodog has been offline in Québec for years and last year went dark in Nova Scotia. However, it continues to operate across the rest of Canada, including in Ontario, it is not licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to participate in the province’s regulated market.

The AGCO has made an example out of Bodog in its fight to quash the remaining unlicensed operators that continue to operate without a license more than three years into the regulated market’s lifespan.

In mid-May, the market regulator specifically called out the brand in a broader statement wherein it confirmed it had urged more than a dozen traditional and digital media platforms to “step up the fight” and stop giving operators like Bodog “a veneer of legitimacy” by advertising their wares.

“Part of our ability, or our duty, is to make sure that we are squeezing that illegal marketplace down to the smallest possible size by going after their ability to generate revenue,” AGCO Board Chair Dave Forestell said at Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto last week.

“The market’s matured enough now that people have had an opportunity and if they’re not going to go through the door, it’s time they stop playing in our market,” added Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey on the same panel. “I think you’ll see a little bit more aggressive approach in that space.”

Betr cries foul, demands recount of PointsBet vote on Mixi takeover

The battle to buy PointsBet took an ugly turn at a shareholders meeting on Wednesday as one of two suitors, Betr Entertainment, claimed its votes against a competing proposal from Mixi were “impermissibly excluded.”

In a release, PointsBet stated that 95.7% of votes cast in Wednesday’s ballot were in favour of the offer from Japanese entertainment company Mixi, and only 4.31% voted against. The Australian gaming operator, which offers online casino and sports betting in Ontario’s regulated market, confirmed that as a result, shareholders have approved the Mixi takeover and the deal will proceed.

That acquisition has been approved by the board, selected over an offer from Betr that PointsBet said lacked financial certainly and did not represent a superior scheme to Mixi’s.

However, Betr is PointsBet’s largest shareholder with 19.9% of shares and its leaders had stated multiple times that they intended to vote their entire shareholding against the Mixi deal. According to the Australian Financial Review, even PointsBet said this week that it expected that, as a result of Betr’s large holding, Mixi’s scheme would be voted down.

So, what happened, according to Betr?

Betr alleged in its own statement that its votes were excluded by the chair of the meeting with “no basis for doing so.” PointsBet’s fellow Australian sportsbook has demanded a recount.

“The company confirms it validly lodged its proxy vote against the scheme as recorded in the PointsBet announcement this morning,” wrote Betr. “Betr did not, at any time, revoke that proxy.

“Betr expects that the chair of the meeting will immediately conduct a recount of the vote and include the Betr proxy vote in full. If the chair of the meeting fails to do so and announce the results prior to the Second Court Hearing tomorrow morning, Betr will challenge the exclusion of its vote at tomorrow’s Second Court Hearing.”

What happened, according to PointsBet?

However, in a second PointsBet statement, the company entirely rejected that version of events, calling Betr’s claims “factually inaccurate and without basis.”

PointsBet countered that the chair of the meeting did not exclude Betr’s vote; rather, Betr itself revoked the proxy it had previously lodged and did not cast a vote at the meeting.

The company noted that the results of the meeting were declared following a poll overseen by a representative from PointsBet’s share registry, Computershare. It added that the information included in its initial results announcement accurately reflects the outcome of that poll as recorded and confirmed by Computershare.

“PointsBet understands, having confirmed with Computershare, that one of Betr’s senior company officers validly logged into the Scheme Meeting virtually and revoked Betr’s proxy on Betr’s behalf prior to the close of the poll,” wrote PointsBet. “This person then did not lodge any votes for Betr at the Scheme Meeting. As noted above, this explanation is consistent with the records of the Scheme Meeting maintained by Computershare.”

What happens next?

As referenced by both companies, an Australian federal court hearing is set for Thursday (Australian time), where the situation may or may not become clearer.

For now, the official results of the vote means not only that the Mixi deal is approved but also consequently that Betr cannot proceed with plans for its own off-market takeover bid.

However, that company said in its statement that, “in the interim, Betr continues to prepare its unconditional takeover offer direct to PointsBet shareholders and will share further details with the market in coming days.”

Why should the Canadian industry care?

PointsBet operates only in Australia and Ontario, and the Canadian province is the only market in which it offers online casino gaming as well as sports betting. The company has confirmed several times it plans to enter Alberta when that province launches commercial online gambling next year.

However, Betr’s bid includes a non-binding proposal from Hard Rock Digital to acquire “certain assets which relate to PointsBet’s Canadian operations.” Betr Chair Matthew Tripp said earlier this year that those assets largely comprise a player database. None of the parties involved have commented on that aspect of the offer to Canadian Gaming Business.

SIGA delivers record Saskatchewan profits for third year running

The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) has reported its best-ever year for the third year in a row.

SIGA’s 2024-25 fiscal year annual report, comprising the period from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, posted $378 million in gross revenue, up from $347 million last year. Net income was up from $139 million last year to $146 million this year.

It marks the third year in a row in which SIGA’s profits have hit a new high mark.

SIGA operates the province’s only regulated and authorized online gaming website, PlayNow.com. It also runs seven bricks-and-mortar casinos that offer slot machines, live table games and electronic table games, live entertainment and a range of hospitality amenities:

  • Bear Claw Casino & Hotel
  • Dakota Dunes Casino
  • Gold Eagle Casino
  • Gold Horse Casino
  • Living Sky Casino
  • Northern Lights Casino
  • Painted Hand Casino

Via Saskatchewan’s gaming model, all net revenue is reinvested. Half of it goes into the First Nations Trust and is then distributed to the 74 First Nations in the province. Back in March, the Saskatchewan government confirmed that the province’s First Nations and Métis organizations would receive an additional $12.5 million in gaming payments for the 2024-25 fiscal year, credited unexpectedly high profits from SIGA casinos and PlayNow.com.

Another 25% is forwarded to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) for local community initiatives, and the remaining quarter goes to the province’s General Revenue Fund.

The numbers could be boosted next year by the fact that multiple casinos are set to be expanded.

“SIGA has successfully built itself back to strength post-pandemic and is making investments into its future with the strong growth of its PlayNow.com platform and enhancements to our land-based casinos, ensuring we remain top entertainment destinations in the province,” said SIGA President and CEO Zane Hansen in a release.

The news comes after SIGA announced last week it has named Chief Tammy Cook-Searson as the new chair of its board of directors to replace outgoing  chair Reginald Bellerose, who has served in the role for more than a decade.

Gaming agency LGS outperforms all other crown corporations

SIGA is one of four gaming operators under the oversight of the Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS) crown corporation, along with SaskGaming, the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) and Sask Sport.

SaskGaming was formerly the standalone administrator of casino and online gaming in Saskatchewan before LGS was established in 2023. LGS took over online gaming oversight from SaskGaming, but the latter organisation still operates Casino Regina and Casino Moose Jaw. Meanwhile, WCLC runs VLTs located in licensed hospitality venues and Sask Sport operates the Sask Lotteries site.

It’s not only SIGA’s gaming operations that boomed last year.

The government’s annual report, which was also released this week, shows that LGS was by far the biggest moneymaker among all crown corporations, bringing in $223 million of the total of $551 million in net earnings after payments to the General Revenue Fund. While that combined total among all crown corporations was down year-over-year from $578 million the year prior, LGS’s number was up from $191 million last fiscal year.

That $223 million came from revenue of $742.6 million. LGS paid $135 million to the General Revenue Fund and yielded dividends of $190 million to LGS’s shareholder, Crown Investments Corporation (CIC). That is the largest annual dividend declared by any commercial Crown corporation in CIC’s history.

“These stellar results were driven by increased guest spending in land-based casinos, online gaming, and VLTs resulting from strong economic conditions in the province,” said LGS President and CEO Susan Flett. “LGS also delivered for local businesses across the province this fiscal year with commissions totalling $61.1 million earned by VLT site contractors and lottery retailers.”

This came in LGS’ first full year of operations after it was established in 2023 as the conduct-and-manage agency for casinos, VLTs, lotteries and online gaming in Saskatchewan.

“The record payments provided by Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan in 2024-25 delivered a better quality of life for Saskatchewan families,” said Minister Responsible for LGS Jeremy Harrison. “More than 12,000 sport, culture and recreation groups benefited from $71.9 million in payments and $7.8 million in charitable gaming grants supported over 2,700 non-profit and charitable organizations throughout our province.”

PENN Entertainment lays off dozens of theScore employees

PENN Entertainment has laid off dozens of content, sales and other staff at Canadian sports media and gaming company theScore.

Canadian Gaming Business understands that more than 75 employees were told on Thursday that they were being let go. The layoffs have roughly cut the brand’s editorial newsroom in half and also impacted the sales team.

“These changes reflect the ongoing evolution of our digital business,” a company spokesperson told CGB on Friday. “Under the leadership of key recent product and technology hires, we are structured to advance our online strategy and efficiently grow our business.”

theScore has a long history as a sports media company and has increasingly leaned into sports betting and online casino gaming in recent years, since launching theScore Bet in New Jersey in 2019. Casino operator PENN acquired the company in October 2021 for around $2 billion USD and theScore Bet went live in the regulated Ontario market when the province launched commercial online gambling in April 2022.

theScore Bet offers both sports betting and online casino across Ontario, and the company recently launched a dedicated theScore Casino app specific to the online casino vertical.

The mass layoffs this week are the latest downsizing PENN Interactive has undertaken in the last 12 months. Last July, it laid off numerous workers including some at its U.S.-facing sportsbook, ESPN Bet, and it cut its workforce once again last September.

PENN Interactive operations in the spotlight

The layoffs come at a time when some PENN investors and external analysts have scrutinized the company’s digital operations, particularly as it struggles to secure solid market share for ESPN Bet in the U.S.

Last year, William Wyatt, managing director of the investor Donerail Group, criticized PENN’s interactive strategy as “misguided” and urged the company to consider selling some of its digital assets. He particularly zeroed in on theScore acquisition, calling it an expensive failure.

And this year, PENN’s decision to buy theScore was caught up in a war of words between the gaming operator and activist investor HG Vora. The shareholder company accused PENN CEO Jay Snowden and other company leaders of “value-destructive deal-making, reckless capital allocation and poor execution” in endeavours such as theScore in Ontario and ESPN Bet south of the border.

PENN leaders defended themselves by stating that the Interactive division has posted year-over-year growth, such as the $162 million USD of adjusted revenue in Q1 2025, which was up 78% year-over-year.

In contrast to ESPN Bet, which Snowden hinted earlier this year could be abandoned as a venture if things don’t improve, PENN leaders often speak glowingly of theScore’s status and progress in Canada. Snowden said in February that Ontario is PENN Interactive’s number-one market in North America in terms of revenues, gross profit and contribution margin. Although iGaming Ontario (iGO) does not break down Ontario market revenue figures by individual operator, PENN executives have suggested on past earnings calls that theScore Bet has a double-digit market share in the province.

PENN intends to launch theScore Bet in Alberta when that province starts letting commercial online gambling operators do business, touted to be early in 2026.

CGS: Ontario gambling minister announces plan for sweeping gaming review

The Ontario minister responsible for gambling gives the province’s gaming industry a B+. But he wants that A grade.

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming Stan Cho said on Thursday at the Canadian Gaming Summit that his ministry will be launching a sweeping review of the province’s online and land-based gaming.

The core goals are to increase efficiency, ensure the entire gambling sector delivers even stronger economic returns, continue to protect players and ensure greater synergy between land-based gaming and the commercial online gambling market that has grown steadily in the province over the last three years and counting.

“Ontario is very much a pioneer and a leader in this sector,” Cho said. “I think we’re doing a fantastic job of balancing those important revenues with also making sure we continue to invest in safe and responsible play. We have challenges and, of course, we also have opportunities to improve. That’s why we’re doing this gaming review.

“These are some important times in gaming. We are seeing iGaming continue to grow, we are seeing the gaming appetites continue to evolve, and we need to monitor these changes carefully and be very adaptive.”

Bricks-and-mortar gaming remains piece of the puzzle

It’s a reflection of the fact that the game has changed in Ontario.

The double whammy of the legalization of single-event sports betting in 2021 and the launch of regulated online gambling in 2022 transformed Canada’s most-populous province from a retail-heavy market run by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (albeit with a hefty dose of unreregulated online gambling going on in the shadows) into one that is highly competitive, deeply saturated and increasingly digital-first.

Such a rapid and continuing evolution poses its own challenges, of course. As Cho put it, “problems are evolving.”

It is unclear exactly what the review will entail, and the results it will yieldb, but Cho specifically mentioned land-based gaming several times, stressing that bricks-and-mortar casinos, retail sportsbooks and other physical-footprint gambling spaces remain an important piece of the puzzle.

As just one example of what his ministry’s review could throw up, Cho suggested that the province’s self-exclusion system, currently in development under the online gambling conduct-and-manage agency iGaming Ontario (iGO), needs to be shared across not only all iGaming platforms but all land-based gambling, too.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he acknowledged. “I don’t know that we hit the exact ebb and flow of this evolution of online and land-based gaming. I think the market is just starting to get comfortable with iGaming and understanding how that balances with land-based gaming. So, we have to monitor that carefully.”

iGO goes it alone — well, sort of

Under Cho, who assumed his current role almost exactly one year ago, things are already changing.

One notable development earlier this year was iGO becoming its own standalone government agency, newly separate from the market regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which reports to the Ministry of the Attorney General rather than Cho’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming.

While iGO and OLG are separate and standalone entities with very different roles under Cho’s ministry, Cho, iGO Chair Heidi Reinhart and OLG Chair Jim Warren all stressed during Thursday’s summit session that shared goals and work will be key. Reinhart noted iGO is excited to be a spun-out agency and to have a closer relationship with the ministry, as well as with OLG on an operational basis.

Reinhart also teased on Wednesday at CGS that iGO will be announcing its new CEO soon as they conclude their search for a replacement for the retired Martha Otton.

“The time is right,” said Cho of iGO going solo. “The gaming environment is evolving both on the land-based side and on the iGaming side, and that’s why those two agencies [iGO and OLG] need to be close to each other, but also need to be separated and autonomous so that we have the ability to move quickly and be adaptable. The worst thing that government can do is move slowly in an ever-changing environment such as this.”

Gambling industry, this is your government calling

Cho vowed that, through it all, the government will make its decisions based on what is best for the industry.

“As we go through the gaming review and the evolution of online and land-based gaming, you have my word that we will work with you as industry partners to make sure that decisions make sense based on expertise, not on speculation and not on a politician’s whim.

“Regulation is important. Red tape is a disaster for prosperity and growth. You can never perfectly future-proof anything, but the biggest disaster you can do is to over-prescribe something. I think the government needs to be very careful in that.”

Betr says it expects Mixi’s mooted takeover of PointsBet to fail

Betr Entertainment has questioned the conduct of fellow Australian operator PointsBet as it seeks to acquire the Canadian-focused online gambling operator.

After PointsBet confirmed on Monday that it formally rejected Betr’s takeover proposal and entered into an agreement to accept an improved offer from Japanese entertainment giant Mixi, Betr posted a statement on Tuesday in which it predicted that shareholders would reject the Mixi takeover.

Betr, which holds a 19.9% stake in PointsBet, wrote that the company has voiced “strong opposition” to its fellow operator’s decision to proceed with a revised acquisition proposal from Mixi. It confirmed it will vote against the Mixi proposal at the upcoming shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for June 25.

Betr (formerly BlueBet) believes it is not alone in opposing the mooted Mixi deal.

“Based on its unsolicited interactions, Betr is aware that several PointsBet shareholders have indicated significant support for the Betr proposal and we consider it likely that the Mixi proposal will fail,” read part of the statement.

Betr questions whether PointsBet has acted in good faith

Betr said its offer represents a value to PointsBet shareholders of $1.33 AUD per share, in contrast to the Mixi proposal’s $1.20 AUD per share.

Its bid is funded through a mixture of cash and scrip, wherein shares are offered partly or wholly in place of cash. The company acknowledged that its offer is conditional on several factors that cannot be controlled by its board and management.

PointsBet has suggested that Betr’s cost synergy projections have been overstated, a claim that Betr emphatically rejected in its June 17 statement.

“We categorically reject PointsBet’s characterisation of our cost synergy projections as being ‘materially overstated’,” said Betr CEO Andrew Menz. “Our team has deep experience in this field and our unparalleled track record speaks for itself. Having completed detailed bottom-up analysis, our confidence in the benefits of the Betr proposal for PointsBet shareholders has only increased.”

Betr stated that it has consistently attempted to “proactively and constructively engage” with PointsBet during the due diligence process.

“However, [Monday’s] announcement raises questions as to whether PointsBet has acted constructively and in good faith to fully understand the benefits of the Betr proposal for its shareholders,” added the company.

Betr would sell PointsBet Canada assets to Hard Rock

PointsBet offers online sports betting in both its home country of Australia and Ontario’s regulated market. Ontario is the only jurisdiction in which it also operates online casino gaming, a mix it will likely pursue in Alberta when that province launches commercial online gambling next year.

But Betr’s bid includes selling certain PointsBet Canada assets to Hard Rock Digital. Betr Chair Matthew Tripp said earlier this year that those assets largely comprise a player database. None of the parties involved have offered comment on that aspect of the offer to Canadian Gaming Business.