​Ontario online gambling wagers hit $14B in Q1: iGO report

Total online wagers placed in Ontario in the first quarter of this year totalled $14 billion, marking an increase from the previous quarter, iGaming Ontario (iGO) revealed in a recent market report.  

Ontario online casinos and sports betting wagers were up from the $13.9 billion reported the previous quarter, the data released on July 19 showed.

There were 920,000 active player accounts from April 1 to June 30, with an average monthly spend of $197 per active player account for the quarter, it said.  

Online casinos accounted for the lion’s share – or 83 per cent – of total wagers placed in the province at $11.6 billion and $392 million (72 per cent) of gaming revenue for the quarter. Gaming revenues represent total revenue after player winnings from cash wagers are factored out. 

Sports betting and esports totalled $2 billion or 14 per cent of total wagers made, and $138 million of gaming revenue for the quarter, or 25 per cent. Peer-to-peer poker accounted for $350 million of total wagers and $15 million in gaming revenue, or three per cent of each total figure.

ONE YEAR OF LEGAL ONLINE GAMBLING

The report speaks to the economic results one year into legalized single-game sports wagers in Ontario.

“There was the need to capture some of the lost revenue that was leaving the province,” Martha Otton, executive director of iGaming Ontario,

She noted that high paying jobs have entered the province as a result of legalizing what was an underground market not long ago. 

“Many of the operators that are live now, 36 of them existed in the province prior to the regulated scheme coming forward, and so those operators were able to successfully bring their players with them,” she said.