In Canada and the recently-liberalized iGaming market of Ontario reportedly chalked up aggregated handle of approximately $3.05 billion in the twelve weeks following its April 4 launch to produce some $123.79 million in combined revenues.

According to a source citing official figures from the iGaming Ontario regulator, the initial figures concerning all commercial online casino, sportsbetting and poker services in the territory came from 492,000 active player accounts with an average individual monthly spend of around $86.33. The watchdog purportedly also disclosed that the pooled handle figure did not include promotional wagers while the collective revenues tally encompassed all rake and tournament fees across the 31 domains run by 18 operators.

Evolving environment:

Ontario is the most populated of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories with slightly over 14.2 million residents and became the first to take advantage of federal legislation ratified in 2021 and legalize the provision of a wide range of online casino and sportsbetting entertainment. The jurisdiction has since gone on to license a plethora of iGaming operators including the likes of LeoVegas AB, DraftKings Incorporated, 888 Holdings and FanDuel Group and is now purportedly forecast to rack up first-year aggregated tax revenues roughly $13.74 million before surpassing the $23 million barrier by the end of 2025.

Omitted operations:

The source divulged that the inaugural iGaming Ontario figures did not include any data from the services offered by the state-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which include the Proline+ online casino and sportsbetting platform. It noted that the tallies were furthermore confined to legal channels and did not factor in a nationwide ‘black market’ sector that the Canadian Gaming Association earlier estimated could annually be worth as much as $10.69 billion.

Prominent player:

Dave Forestell serves as Chair for the newly-established?iGaming Ontario regulator and he reportedly asserted that the opening figures from his province’s regulated iGaming market have placed the territory among the top performers in the embryonic North American online casino and sportsbetting scene. The small American state of Connecticut, which has a population of just 3.5 million people, purportedly recorded associated aggregated second-quarter revenues of $89.11 million while the much larger jurisdiction of Pennsylvania documented a far superior tally of $449.14 million.

Reportedly read a statement from Forestell…

“Our aim is to be the best gaming jurisdiction in the world and these positive results are an early sign that we’re on our way. With a competitive revenue share rate and low barriers to entry, Ontario is an attractive iGaming market with a strong player base.”