Back in the spring, Bettormetrics released a report analyzing suspension strategies and the impact they were having on sportsbook revenues in the U.S. of A. 

Robert Urwin, the co-founder and managing director of the sports odds intelligence company, made his maiden appearance on the Gaming News Canada Show to dig deeper into the company’s data around betting on the 2023-24 NBA season. Included in the company’s analysis as FanDuel leaving an estimated $1.45 billion (Amarican bucks) in handle during the pro hoops campaign.

Urwin, who’s worked in the gaming industry for more than two decades – including tenures with Unibet, Betfair and Ladbrokes before co-founding Bettormetrics almost three years ago – spoke about his current company’s place in the sports betting biz and further addressed suspension of wagers during live sporting events. 

He also got into the evolving use of artificial intelligence in delivering data around sports and sports betting, as we enter a busy fall sports schedule with the return of the NFL, NBA and NHL regular seasons, MLB playoffs, and more.

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At the beginning of August, iGaming Ontario announced a select bid by Integrity Compliance 360 and Australian company IXUP was selected to develop a centralized self-exclusion system for Ontario. Catherine Jarmain, iGO’s director of industry programs and monitoring, and IC360 president Eric Frank joined the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show to discuss the project to build on the existing player protections in Ontario.

Frank explained the creation of the partnership between IC360 and its ProhiBet betting integrity product, and IXUP, which designed and delivered and operates Australia’s national self-exclusion register (BetStop). Jarmain spoke about both the lengthy process that led to the August 1 announcement, and the coming together of Ontario’s regulated operators and OLG in supporting the development of a centralized program for Canada’s only regulated industry.

We also asked Frank about the IC360/IXUP partnership extending into other jurisdictions, including the anticipated opening of a regulated gambling industry in Alberta. Finally, both Jarmain and Frank paid tribute to Martha Otton, after iGO announced last week that its executive director is retiring at the end of the year.

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Dr. Ian Messenger is a man with many hats over his professional career, from his work as an officer with Lothian and Borders Police in Edinburgh almost 20 years ago, to time as an operational duty officer with Interpol London and international intelligence officer, to investigating crimes of the financial sort with HSBC and OLG.

Messenger’s experiences and expertise motivated him in the fall of October 2022 to create the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists, which today provides training to the casino and igaming sector in Canada and around the rest of the world. In March 2023, the ACGCS and Dalhousie University announced the first-of-its-kind course in igaming compliance in our home and native land.

At next week’s Canadian Gaming Summit, Messenger will moderate a panel on Identifying and combating human trafficking in land-based casinos. He joined us on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show to talk about his experiences and his motivation for launching an association which provides online courses to people around the globe. Messenger also got into the steps that have been taken to stop human trafficking casinos and gave us some advice on how to identify that someone may be in trouble.

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This week, The Gaming News Canada podcast is joined by Kris Abbott, the former Canadian country manager for Coolbet who was recently hired by Kaizen Gaming in the same role for Kaizen’s Betano sportsbook brand. BetSwap founder Brent Winston discussed the latest happenings with the Toronto based startup, and Room 4-4-2 host James Sharman teed up this week’s soccer party at The Rivoli along with the countdown to the FIFA men’s World Cup in November.

As usual, Amanda Brewer from Kindred Group and Will Hill of Sightline Payments discussed the latest news in the sports betting and gaming world.

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On this week’s episode, Roto Wire founder and CEO Peter Schoenke and long-time fantasy sports guru Digger Turnbull spoke about the shutdown of daily fantasy sports in Ontario and the efforts of the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association to bring back DFS (to give your support, go to fantasysportsforall.com/Ontario. Amanda Brewer, the Canadian country manager for Kindred Group, and Nic Sulsky – the current CCO of PointsBet Canada and former co-founder of Monkey Knife Fight – also weighed in on the topic.

Paul Burns, the president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, joined the show from the SBC Summit Barcelona to discuss his week in the Spanish city – including his role as moderator of a panel on the early days of the regulated Ontario market - and also to receive congratulations on being named the recipient of a Career Achievement award from VIXIO Gambling Compliance.

We reached Sulsky inside Willie O’Ree Place in Fredericton during the second day of the inaugural PointsBet Canada Invitational, with men’s and women’s rinks competing in a March Madness-style knockout tournament and the winning rink each getting $50,000.

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This week, Canadian sports betting industry veteran Steve Rapp joined us to talk about his new role as Canadian Country Manager for Pinnacle, and about the company waiting for iGaming Ontario approval after receiving a licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

Nic Sulsky, the Chief Commercial Officer for PointsBet Canada, discussed the company’s $1 million bracket challenge and other promotional events around next week’s inaugural PointsBet Invitational curling competition in Fredericton in partnership with Curling Canada.

Rapp, Gavin Roth, Mike Day, Amanda Brewer and Tony Luccisano all weighed in on Roger Federer’s announcement that the tennis legend is retiring from Grand Slams and ATP Tour competition after 20 Slam singles titles and 103 Tour championships. 

The episode finished with a roundtable on the continued quest by Canadian media companies, Rogers' Sportsnet and Bell Media's TSN, to integrate sports betting content into their broadcasts and other platforms.

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Amanda Brewer, the Canadian country manager for Kindred Group, and Will Hill, Canadian vice-president of business development for Sightline Payments, provided their insight into the first quarterly report presented by iGaming Ontario on the province’s regulated sports betting and igaming business. Brewer and Hill both call for patience, pointing to a market making the transition from grey to white, a soft spot in the sports calendar between April and June, and the industry missing major players such as Super Group, PokerStars and Pinnacle in the opening quarter. 

 Aubrey Levy, the senior VP of content and marketing for The Score, also joined the show to talk about the addition of Jon Lovitz, Russell Peters and Patrick J. Adams to theScore Bet’s “Get Into Bet Mode”campaign. Levy, Brewer and Parleh Media Group CEO Mark Silver discussed the anticipation for the betting industry around the start of a busy fall sports season, highlighted by the NFL’s regular season getting underway.

Host Steve McAllister also brought in sports bettor Tony Luccisano to give his best bets for the U.S. Open tennis men's and women's finals.

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The co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Toronto-based Rivalry made his return to the Gaming News Canada Show.

A conversation between Steves – Salz and McAllister – begins with the head honcho of the online gambling company laying out the path to last week’s announcement of Rivalry entering the world of cryptocurrency, including the NUTZ interim points program. 

Salz answered our questions about the company’s latest financials, also released last week, and the company’s strategy for the remainder of 2024. There was also a discussion on what’s happening in the esports universe, and Salz’s observations about Ontario’s regulated gambling market moving into Year 3.

The expansion of regulated gambling beyond Ontario in our home and native land also prompted a couple of interesting responses from Salz, who will participate in the Next-Gen gamification: engaging Millennials and GenZ panel at the upcoming Canadian Gaming Summit.

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Spotlight Sports Group hosted a conversation with industry experts in May 2022 to discuss the early weeks of Ontario's online sports betting business. The panel included Rick Wolf from Spotlight Sports Group, Nic Sulsky from PointsBet Canada, and Aubrey Levy from theScore Bet. They covered various aspects, including market opening, customer acquisition and retention strategies, popular betting trends, and the role of partnerships. Here are some key insights from their discussion.

The market opening of Ontario's online sports betting business has been deemed successful by industry stakeholders. Operators, regulators, and vendors are pleased with the progress so far. However, the market is still in its early stages, and there are ongoing efforts to interpret and comply with the rules and regulations.

Creating a sense of belonging within a sports ecosystem is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. This involves engaging users through activities like fantasy sports and betting, allowing them to develop a stronger connection to the games and players. To succeed in the highly competitive Ontario market, operators need to deliver a top-grade product and offer unique differentiators that set them apart. Building a strong brand identity is also essential for long-term success.

While marketing strategies can drive initial interest, the panelists emphasized the importance of focusing on product excellence to win in the online sports betting space. Providing exceptional user experiences and innovative features will help operators stand out from their competitors.

Ontario's sports fans have shown a predictable preference for betting on the province's teams, particularly the Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays. Basketball has gained significant popularity, and live, in-play bets are prevalent. Baseball and tennis are also seeing increased interest. As the football season approaches, the panelists are curious to see how the market dynamics might change.

Partnerships with prominent sports organizations are instrumental in building trust, integrity, and excitement around betting brands. Collaborating with organizations like the Blue Jays and Golf Canada allows operators to leverage existing fan bases and engage in joint initiatives to enhance brand awareness and customer loyalty. These partnerships go beyond financial transactions and provide opportunities for learning, education, innovation, and brand activation.

In conclusion, Ontario's new online sports betting business has shown promising results in its early weeks. To thrive in this competitive market, operators must focus on product excellence, brand building, and strategic partnerships. By understanding customer preferences and delivering outstanding user experiences, operators can position themselves for long-term success in Ontario's online sports betting industry.

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As the boom in women’s sports continues, led by Caitlin Clark’s arrival to the WNBA, the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and Nelly Korda’s dominant season on the LPGA Tour, BetMGM has seen that rising tide impact its sports betting handle in a bullish manner.

Scott Woodgate, the company’s Vice President in charge of Canada, and PR Manager – Data Insights John Ewing appeared on the Gaming News Canada Show to provide thoughts and metrics on the increase in betting on women’s sports, and the rise in female bettors. Ewing dug into BetMGM’s announcement earlier this year there was a 51-per-cent increase on women betting on the Super Bowl – thanks in some part to the Taylor Swift effect – compared with the 2023 NFL championship game. Ewing answered our question about the habits of female bettors.

Both Ewing and Woodgate also got into the impact of increased attention around women’s sports on BetMGM’s product, including customers being invested in Clark during NCAA March Madness and in her rookie WNBA season with the Indiana Fever. “We reflect the interest from bettors,” said Ewing, who, with Woodgate, spoke about the similarities between sportsbooks and media when it comes to women's sports.

Woodgate provided his perspective on the current state of regulated gambling in Ontario, and the prospect of Alberta becoming the next Canadian province to open its door to legal operators. Alberta’s iGaming Evolution is among the panels at the June 18-20 Canadian Gaming Summit, with Patrick Harrison guiding a conversation between TRM Public Affairs President, Entain senior executive Martin Lycka, and BetMGM Vice President, Strategy & Development Witek Wachinski.

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On the latest edition of the Gaming News Canada Show, we are joined by two women who’ve been instrumental in the highly acclaimed efforts of the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation when it comes to creating and continuing to push forward with a culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusivity. 

Catherine Meade, the Vice President of Community, Sustainability and Social Responsibility has been with OLG for more than eight years, and in May was named North America Leader of the Year during the SBC Summit North America. Tyjondah Kerr will celebrate 25 years with OLG later this year, and is currently the corp’s Director, Social Responsibility.

Meade and Kerr both spoke about OLG’s commitment to DEI, beginning with an embracing of the organization’s five-year plan in February 2019 and continuing to build on that strategy at a time when companies are pulling back on their DEI efforts. Meade talked about the work she’s done in various roles over her career, beginning as an equity officer at Acadia University and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in the 1990s, to her position of Director, Capital Projects for the PanAm/Parapan Games group in Toronto less than a decade ago, and as a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ sports community.

We asked Kerr about her early years as a young black woman in the business of gambling – telling the story of her frustration at being overlooked for promotions - and the (slow) evolution of the industry as one that’s more inclusive with work still to be done. Our two guests also weighed in on the tidal wave these days around women’s sports.

Meade and Kerr will both be speaking at the June 18-20 Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto. 

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Given the recent cornucopia of happenings around the business of sports betting and igaming, we brought back the Gaming News Canada Show panel with Amanda Brewer and Phill Gray.

The rapid-fire roundtable featuring the two gambling industry veterans opened with a discussion on the recent ruling by the Ontario Superior Court against the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke that the gaming model operated by iGaming Ontario is of the valid variety, and its potential impact on the future on other regulated provinces across Canada. 

Brewer, who will participate in a couple of panels at next month's Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto, and Gray also weighed in on the agenda that's been created by SBC in collaboration with the Canadian Gaming Association for the three-day conference inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The conversation turned to south of the border where U.S. states such as Illinois are proposing tax hikes to regulated sports betting operators, and the recent snub by operators toward the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to discuss placing betting limitations. We also asked our pair of panelists for their thoughts on the rising wave around women's sports, including an exciting final series in the Professional Women's Hockey League, the launch of the new WNBA season with rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, and this week's announcement about the incoming Northern Super League in Canada.

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Stuart Godfree, the Managing Director, Mobile and Geolocation Specialists for Mkodo, is our latest guest on the Gaming News Canada Show. Godfree, who co-founded the UK-based geolocation technology business 23 years ago this month, discussed the evolution of the company’s business in the more-recent regulatory environment of U.S. states and Ontario, including Mkodo’s work with the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation, Casumo and Betty. We asked Godfree for his thoughts on the regulatory regime created by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, with the assistance of iGaming Ontario, and the need for other Canadian provinces to follow the lead of the provincial government in Ontari-ari-ari-o.

Our conversation touched on the collaboration between operators and companies like Mkodo, which includes its Geo Locs service for igaming operators. Godfree, who will participate in the Modern Approaches to Traditional Verticals: Digitization Comes for Lottery, Bingo, and Horses panel at next month’s Canadian Gaming Summit, also provided his thoughts on the evolution of machine learning/artificial intelligence.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/G2ysd1G6HSc?si=khj82YOv6NPC4SeW

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The Canadian Elite Basketball League opens its sixth season tonight in Calgary with the hometown Surge hosting the Edmonton Stingers in a hoops edition of the Battle of Alberta expected to draw more than 10,000 fans.

Mike Morreale, the CEBL’s commissioner, and deputy commissioner John Lashway appeared on the Gaming News Canada Show to set the table for the 10-team loop’s Summer of 2024. Morreale and Lashway walked GNCS host Steve McAllister through the league’s efforts to educate players, coaches, officials and other stakeholders on its sports betting policy and collaborating with league partners Genius Sports, SIS and BetVictor in the fight against match-fixing.

The podcast also includes a discussion on the CEBL’s partnership with BetVictor, which this season includes a weekly betting show to be produced by Homestand Sports.

And, Morreale and Lashway both weighed in on the league’s growth from six teams in its 2019 inaugural season to 10 teams with plans for expansion in 2025, the development of players, coaches and officials who have graduated to the National Basketball Association, and the CEBL becoming an attractive place for players looking to climb the pro hoops ladder.

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This morning, Sharp Alpha Advisors – the New York-based venture capital firm which specializes in sports, gaming and entertainment – announced the closing of Sharp Alpha Fund II, an oversubscribed $250-million VC fund investing in early-stage businesses. Lloyd Danzig, the managing partner of Sharp Alpha Advisors, joined the Gaming News Canada Show from Dallas to provide more details around the breaking news.

He also spoke about the flurry of M&A activity so far in 2024, including the acquisition of Quarter4 by FairPlay Sports Media Group, and what’s motivating those transactions, and what investors are looking for when it comes to providing funding to companies in the sports, gaming and entertainment spaces. And, what excites him about the innovation and products appearing in the world of sports wagering and online gaming these days.

Danzig, who will be speaking at next month’s Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto, also addressed the opportunities north of the border. 

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Three years since doing the incorporation thing – and less than a year before the opening of Ontario’s regulated sports betting and igaming industry – Parleh Media Group’s journey has been one of twists and turns for its Homestand, Bettor Content and The Parleh/Gaming News Canada brands.

Mark Silver, the PMG chief executive officer who brought together the company’s six founding partners in early 2021 and Homestand’s content/brand grand poobah Kevin Kennedy appeared on the Gaming News Canada Show for some reminiscing and a lookahead at the opportunities in the always-changing world of betting, gaming and media. Silver spoke about his latest experience in a startup business, and the need for continuous experimenting and shifting strategies to meet the needs of some 10 clients which Parleh has served in Ontario’s two-year-old regulated marketplace. Kennedy was asked for his thoughts on the merger of sports betting and sports media – including The Locker Room program that’s available on the Sports Interaction app - the continuous search for unique content in a market that remains crowded despite the challenges faced by traditional media, and the content opportunities around Ontario’s robust online gaming business. 

Both PMG leaders gave their own taps of the hockey twig, Silver to investors and other supporters of the company, and Kennedy to the group of established and just-starting content creators who are finding a different path these days to telling stories in the world of sports.

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The leadership group at U.S. Integrity and Odds On Compliance took its own version of the Nestea plunge last month when it announced the merger of the two companies under a new brand, IC360.

Matthew Holt, the chief executive officer of the new company, and IC360 president Eric Frank appeared on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show. The main drivers of the merger gave us the back story on how U.S. Integrity and Odds On Compliance came together since launching ProhiBet at the beginning of 2023, and the new business’s integration of integrity and compliance products. Holt explained the creation of an education and training team led by former EPIC Global Solutions employees Mark Potter and Dan Trolaro while both Holt and Frank got into the fast-moving evolution of artificial intelligence in supporting its integrity and compliance services. The interview also included a discussion on IC360’s plans for the Canadian market, including the hiring of Sebastian Jedrzejewski from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario last year and U.S. Integrity’s collaboration with the AGCO in the days leading up to the opening of the province’s regulated gambling marketplace.

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So much for the dog days of summer, at least when it comes to the business of sports betting and gaming in Canada and the United States of America.

Geoff Zochodne, the veteran gaming industry beat reporter for Covers, took a break from listening to hearings, transcribing interviews and tapping the keyboard to return as our guest on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show. Among the many topics we covered over a lengthy conversation:

- What is motivating DraftKings to, in Zochodne’s words, “plan to hit winning players with a ‘gaming tax surcharge’?

- What make sense in terms of timing for regulated sports wagering and online gaming to arrive in Alberta and what will that marketplace look like?

- Jeff Marek’s departure from Sportsnet appears to have involved both the NHL and Nevada Gaming Control Board.

- And what’s the dilio with regards to sports betting regulators and limiting?

Zochodne also provided his perspective on the Ontario Court of Appeal case considering the expansion of online poker and daily fantasy sports, consolidation of the U.S. sports betting industry (and why it hasn’t happened in Ontario), and more.

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Some 5,000 people working across various sectors of the sports wagering and gaming industry in the U.S., Canada and countries around the planet will gather inside at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ, next week for the annual SBC Summit North America. It’s one of two major conferences organized this spring by SBC, which will co-host with the Canadian Gaming Association the June 18-20 Canadian Gaming Summit at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. 

Gambling industry veteran Sue Schneider, the VP of Growth and Strategy for SBC’s North American business, was our guest on this edition of the Gaming News Canada Show. Schneider, who was inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame during the 2022 North America summit, teed up next week’s rendezvous in Secaucus, provided some helpful hints to first-time attendees and gave her perspective on the evolution of the SBC events, and the industry itself over a quarter of a century. We also asked what attendees of the Canadian Gaming Summit can expect next month in SBC’s second year of co-hosting the conference.

One of the most-passionate advocates for women working in the industry, Schneider also spoke about the progress that’s been made, including the creation of companies such as Ontario-regulated online gaming business Betty, and Betting Ladies, and the need to continue those efforts. She also weighed in on the current state of the gambling industry in the U.S.

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It was a homecoming of sorts when Will Hill joined the Canadian Lottery Coalition as its executive director. 

Hill, who spent 11 years with OLG, these days represents a collaboration of the Alberta Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, BCLC, Loto-Québec, the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation, and the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority. On the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, he addressed the coalition’s advocacy for legal gambling across Canada and the work that’s been done in trying to limit gambling advertising by regulated operators in Ontario within the province’s borders. And, we asked him about the apparent road to regulation that’s happening in Alberta.

The former journalist and Toronto Blue Jays employee also teed up a panel discussion at the Canadian Gaming Summit in June which is scheduled to include crown corporation leaders Kandice Machado (AGLC), Pat Davis (BCLC), Patrick Daigle (ALC) and Jean-Francois Bergeron (Loto-Québec). Hill also provided some thoughts on the current state of the gambling industry in North America, including a decline in casino visitors in some U.S. states.

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As sports betting and gaming continue to evolve, along with almost everything else, in the digital space, so do the methods of payments for people placing a sports wager and/or playing online poker, casino and slots.

On this episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, Paysafe executive Greg Kirstein was our guest. Kirstein, who joined Paysafe in the summer of 2013 and is currently the general manager, iGaming for the company’s North American business, discussed the business’s work with the lottery and gaming corporations in Ontario and Quebec, and regulated operators in Ontari-ari-ari-o. He also got into the expanding inventory of online payment products.

And, of course, we asked the Montreal-based Kirstein about the potential for expanding regulated gambling into other provinces across our home and native land.

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Last week’s suspension of Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter by the NBA for violations of the league’s gambling policy poured more fuel on the fire on the relationships between professional sports leagues and sports betting companies operating in legal gambling jurisdictions across the United States and Canada.

Doug Smith, who’s been covering the Toronto Raptors since Day 1 for the Toronto Star, appeared on this episode of the Gaming News Canada Show with Legal Sports Report gambling biz journalist (and former NBA beat writer) Mike Mazzeo. Smith spoke about the conversations he’s had with Raptors players about the new world of online sports wagering, and the ties that bind leagues and betting operators while Mazzeo weighed in on the measures being taken by all stakeholders in the fight against match-fixing and other potential betting scandals in pro sports. 

Daniel Umfleet, the founder and CEO of Kindbridge Behavioral Health, then joined the show from Southampton, England to weigh in on the Porter ban. Kindbridge’s partners include NASCAR, Entain, BetMGM, DraftKings, U.S. Integrity and Sportradar, and Umfleet answered our questions about the roles companies in different sectors of the sports wagering landscape play in preventing situations such as Porter’s, and the pressures faced by today’s athletes – current, former and those who are trying to prepare for life after playing. He also got into the evolution of responsible gambling programs in the U.S., which traditionally have been based on bricks-and-mortar sportsbooks and casinos to deal with the still-newish world of online gambling.

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Some 24 hours before iGaming Ontario released its fourth-quarter and 2023-24 year-end market performance report, Canadian Gaming Association president and CEO Paul Burns made his return to the Gaming News Canada Show for somewhat of a rapid-round episode.

Burns provided a plethora of perspectives on a number of topics, including the two-year anniversary of regulated gambling in Ontari-ari-ari-o and what’s next, what may lie ahead for regulated sports betting and igaming in other Canadian provinces, the work that’s been done in our home and native land on responsible gambling, and the role that Canada plays internationally in the gambling space. We also asked Burns about preparations between the CGA and SBC for the annual Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto, taking place June 18-20.

And, there was also some girls/women’s hockey talk as the CGA’s head honcho walks away from the bench after a lengthy coaching tenure in the Leaside Wildcats organization.

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When Brianne Doura-Schawohl joined the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling in the fall of 2013, the overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in the United States was five years away and amending the Criminal Code of Canada to pave the way for legal single-event sports betting was eight years away.

Since then, Doura-Schawohl has gone on to become a leading voice on responsible gambling and problem gambling in senior leadership roles with the National Council on Problem Gambling, and EPIC Risk Management. In her current role as CEO of Doura-Schawohl Consulting LLC, she’s working with stakeholders across the regulated gambling industry to address the growing concern around problem gambling.

On the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, Doura-Schawohl discussed the impact that the fast-moving mobile/online gambling industry in the U.S. is having on people, the influence of gambling advertising and famous brand ambassadors on players, concerns about increased gambling activity among college students, the need for more research into problem gambling, and the responsibility that stakeholders across the industry have to make gambling safer.

Doura-Schawohl, who doesn't shy away from advocating for more tangible action on RG, also provided more than a few words of praise to RG efforts in Ontario and across the rest of Canada by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario – when creating the province’s regulated sports betting and igaming marketplace – the Responsible Gambling Council and BCLC with its GameSense self-exclusion program that is being used by operators in the U.S.

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In March, Basketball Forever announced the completion of a $4 million funding round led by Yolo Investments. Gambling industry veterans Paris Smith, Seth Young and Friends of Gaming News Canada Benjie Cherniak and Chris Grove were among the folks putting some dollars – and their faith in the digital sports media company. The successful round of fundraising, explained chief strategy officer Nick Kelland, was the result of pounding the pavement – including the halls of The Venetian during last fall’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

Kelland was our special guest on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show to answer our enquiries about BF’s journey through the worlds of startups, social media, sports media/content, fantasy sports, free-to-play gaming, and sports wagering. Kelland also explained the company’s success in attracting millions of hoops aficionados from Down Under, in the U.S., Canada and other parts of the planet. And, of course, we asked about the Caitlin Clark effect on the growing popularity of women’s basketball with the betting public.

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The regulated sports betting and igaming industry in Ontario recently turned the page on its second year of existence and begins Year 3 amidst gambling controversies involving the biggest star in Major League Baseball and a Toronto Raptors player, angst around sports betting advertising that won’t go away, concern on how serious stakeholders across the business of wagering and gaming are when it comes to problem gambling, and illegal operators still having a prominent place across North America.

Scott Vanderwel, the chief executive officer of PointsBet Canada, returned to the Gaming News Canada Show to discuss those topics, while also discussing the recent closing of the acquisition of PointsBet USA by Fanatics, PointsBet Canada’s newish partnership with Strive Gaming to enhance its online gaming offering, the impact of University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark on the business of sports betting, and the successes and lessons learned by operators, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario is a highly competitive marketplace.

Vanderwel was also joined by Nic Sulsky for a conversation on the breaking news this morning (Tuesday) that Sulsky is leaving his chief commercial officer position with PointsBet Canada to become a partner and CEO of the newly formed The Curling Group. Sportsnet announced this morning that The Curling Group will take over ownership and operations of the 12-year-old Grand Slam of Curling series. Sulsky told us the story of how The Curling Group was created, the opportunities for continuing to grow the sport globally, PointsBet Canada’s early . . . er. . . gamble on curling, and he also provided his thoughts on the industry he’s leaving.

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The second anniversary of Ontario’s regulated sports betting and igaming industry lands April 4th, and in the midst of investigations involving MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors around sports betting. Meanwhile, the debate continues around gambling advertising, sportsbooks placing limits on bettors, and problem gambling.

Also, the state of New York just had its second most successful week in sports betting handle from legal operators since the launch of its regulated marketplace in January 2022. And the regulated sports betting business in North Carolina has launched with a bang riding the March Madness wave.

The latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show brings together a media roundtable with SBC Americas editor-in-chief Jessica Welman, the managing editor of Catena Media’s Play Canada, Play Michigan and Play Pennsylvania websites, Dave Briggs, and Geoff Zochodne, the gambling industry beat writer for Covers.com. The trio of journalists joined Steve McAllister to discuss the good, bad and ugly that is the current state of gambling across North America.

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Fourteen years ago, Justin Park was an analyst with a pharmaceutical/biotech management consulting firm in New York. These days, Park is the chief executive officer of Betty, which launched 14 months ago its online casino and “casual mobile gaming” business in Ontario’s regulated igaming industry.

The startups veteran was our guest on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, joining us from the Big Apple. Park spoke about the creation of Betty, why Ontario is the company’s first foray into regulated igaming, its success so far competing against the big players in the province, his laser focus on the future opportunities in other Canadian provinces, and the focus on women as customers, and employees.

Park also provided some words of wisdom for startups in the gambling industry.

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Did you hear the story about the NCAA assistant basketball coachwho decided less than a year into the COVID pandemic to leave coaching and create a startup business around tractor and truck pulling, and gaming?

If not, you’re politely invited to listen in on our conversation with Full Pull Entertainment founder and CEO Chase Richardson on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show. Richardson, whom we first met while he was on a networking/business development mission at last year’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, shared his journey of leaving college hoops to parlay (see what we did?) his farming family’s generational participation in truck and tractor pulling to build a business and expand engagement around the sport into the gaming sector with the launch of Full Pull Picks. 

Richardson discussed with us the lessons learned from coaching and recruiting in the highly competitive U.S. college basketball environment into operating a startup business. And we asked the former NCAA player how he recruited Friend of Gaming News Canada Benjie Cherniak to join Full Pull as an advisor and investor. The Full Pull head honcho also talked about his desire to bring Full Pull Picks to the Ontario and Alberta (when regulated gambling comes to the western Canada province) markets, given the appetite for tractor and truck pulling throughout rural communities in the two provinces.

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Michael Zitney, the director of content and brand for Sports Interaction, and Kevin Kennedy – who holds the same title for Homestand – were our guests on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show. Zitney and Kennedy discussed the Sports Interaction/Homestand partnership and the creation of The Locker Room – a live show available on the sportsbook’s app during the past NFL season and during other major sports events. Sports Interaction’s content/brand lead also answered our questions about the business’s integration into Hockey Night in Canada this NHL season and tailoring its advertising and marketing strategy around the new standards put into place by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to restrict the use of athletes.

Kennedy spoke about the attraction – and evolution - of live events for sports fans post-COVID pandemic, and the ongoing efforts to inform and entertain fans and fans who wager on sporting events.

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Almost 10 months after holding a symposium on competition manipulation and gambling in sport, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and McLaren Global Sport Solutions have co-authored a white paper with five recommendations to address match fixing.

McLaren senior vice-president Robert Copeland was our special guest on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show to answer our questions about the white paper. Copeland addressed the challenges for the Canadian sport system to combat match fixing, including no mention of competition manipulation in the Criminal Code of Canada, and our home and native land so far not being a participant in the Macolin Convention. 

Copeland also got into the need for further education of athletes and other sport stakeholders around sports betting - especially in an Olympic year with the Summer Games coming to Paris- and the need for funding to support education and other programs. He also offered a couple of thoughts on the Shohei Ohtani controversy.

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Sports betting and gaming industry veterans Amanda Brewer, Kris Abbott and Phill Gray returned to the Gaming News Canada Show for a rapid-fire roundtable on what’s happening, starting with the news of a gambling connection to the firing of Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

The start of March Madness and the NCAA women’s and men’s basketball tournaments also sparked a discussion on the decision by sports betting regulators in some U.S. states to place a ban on prop wagers involving college athletes.

With the two-year anniversary of Ontario’s competitive sports wagering and igaming industry coming April 4th, the panel weighed in on the departure of Unibet and the due diligence being done by operators to enter the province’s regulated marketplace despite a crowded house of almost 50 operators plus OLG. Brewer also brought up the potential impact that a regulated industry in Alberta – along with the possibility of legal igaming coming to New York and other states – could have on Ontario. And our learned trio were also asked about the impact from the first month of the AGCO’s new standards around the use of athletes in advertising and marketing campaigns, including Connor McDavid’s responsible gambling message for BetMGM.

Our most popular Gaming News Canada shows from the past few months.

• It's Alberta's turn to open - LISTEN
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• The search for RG continues in Ontario - LISTEN
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• Sportradar on match-fixing and AI - LISTEN

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During Andreas Krannich’s tenure working in the Bundesliga – Germany’s top soccer league – two decades ago, sports wagering was pretty much limited to pre-match betting. With apologies to Bob Dylan, the times they have a changed with the boom around in-play and microbetting.

What hasn’t changed is the potential for the manipulation of matches, and efforts by sports leagues and organizations to provide a product where integrity of competition is front and centre. Krannich is one of the good guys trying to protect that integrity in his role as the Executive Vice President, Integrity, Rights Protection and Regulatory Services for Sportradar.

Krannich joined us from his Munich office on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, just days after Sportradar’s integrity services department released its Betting Corruption and Match-Fixing in 2023 report. Highlights of the report include the detection of 1,329 suspicious matches in 11 different sports across 105 countries, with soccer leading the way (880 cases). Europe had the highest number of suspicious matches with 667, up from 630 in 2022. North America, despite an increase to 35 suspicious matches in 2023 from 24 the previous year, continued to trail Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.

On the podcast, Krannich points to the diligence of North American sports leagues when it comes to monitoring suspicious betting activity. The Sportradar EVP also delves into the helping hand artificial intelligence has lent in tracking some 850,000 sporting events last year while acknowledging the ongoing need for human brainpower to complement AI in trying to prevent and detect risks to integrity in sport.

Krannich addresses his company’s work with organizations around the world, including the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, to educate athletes and other sport stakeholders on red flags around match fixing. And, he weighed in on the ongoing presence of organized crime in the world of sports. 

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Chris Adams has been a passenger on the fast-moving train of regulated gambling in the U.S. since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The founder and CEO of Baltimore-based SharpRank is our guest on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show to talk about his journey from auditor to investment banking, to enrolling in business school, and to hearing the radio commercial that steered him to the sports wagering industry.

Adams spoke about the evolution of SharpRank’s business since it shared first-prize honours with Parleh Media Group at the SBC First Pitch competition in December 2021. A company which originally focused on the merging of content, influencers and sportsbooks to protect the marketplace, SharpRank has since emerged as a respected voice among legislators and regulators, including the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

Adams explains the similarities between investing and betting, the blurry lines that can occur when it comes to information being provided to sports bettors, and the challenges operators face in dealing with different legislation and regulation in provinces and states across North America. We also asked him about SharpRanks’ plans for the remainder of 2024.

If you’d like to be a guest on the podcast, please let us know by emailing steve@gamingnewscanada.ca.

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On the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show podcast, regulated gambling industry veteran Troy Ross of TRM Public Affairs offered his thoughts on the path to a competitive digital gaming marketplace in Alberta. Ross was among the folks with whom Dale Nally, the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, met during last month’s ICE conference in London, and a new online gaming regime was mentioned in the provincial government’s budget presentation last week. Ross was joined by regular contributors Kris Abbott, Amanda Brewer and Phil Gray for a roundtable discussion on the odds of British Columbia and Quebec also following the Ontario road to regulation.

The GNCS panel also had a chin wag about the shifting advertising and marketing strategies of licensed operators in Ontario coinciding with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s new rules to restrict the use of athletes in paid advertising. Mark Silver, the head honcho of Parleh Media Group – proprietors of Gaming News Canada and Homestand Sports – addressed the already-existing change in direction by operators in promoting their sportsbook and igaming products.

Finally, Brewer, Ross, Gray and Abbott provided some bon mots for Silver and Gaming News Canada editor-in-chief Steve McAllister on the news that GNC is shifting to primarily a podcast format. 

If you’d like to be a guest on the podcast, please let us know by emailing steve@gamingnewscanada.ca.

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On the latest edition of the Gaming News Canada Show, regular guests Amanda Brewer, Kris Abbott and Phill Gray were joined by Covers gambling industry beat writer Geoff Zochodne for a rather robust roundtable.

Zochodne provided his thoughts and layers on spending two days inside an Ontario Superior Court of Justice courtroom last week to listen to lawyers for iGaming Ontario and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke lay out facts and arguments in the council’s civil proceedings against Ontario’s regulated sports betting and igaming industry. Gray, Abbott and Brewer added their perspective on the case, in which Judge Lisa Brownstone is expected to submit a ruling before summer. 

With the changes to the AGCO’s standards around advertising and marketing taking effect tomorrow, the panel discussed the transition by Ontario’s licensed operators to the new regulations around the use of athletes and celebrities, and the continuing presence of .net operations pitching their products on television networks. 

The announcement by Unibet last week that it will officially leave the Ontario market on March 26 sparked a conversation on the likelihood of other licensed operators vacating the province before Year 3 of regulated sports betting and igaming begins in early April. That conversation prompted Brewer to point out that smaller operators are leaning into the Canadian grey market to support their Ontario businesses.

Finally, there was reaction from Abbott, Brewer, Gray and Zochodne to the American Gaming Association releasing a third straight year of record numbers for regulated gambling across the U.S. of A.  

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The latest Gaming News Canada dispatch, Thursday edition, dedicated a significant amount of wordage to recent reporting on problem gambling, especially among young adults.

So, the latest Gaming News Canada Show went down the same road with the help of Phill Gray, Kris Abbott and Brock University sports management professor Dr. Michael Naraine, who’s been a frequently loud voice for the provincial government - and the operators in Ontario’s regulated gambling industry - to make funding available for research into a market that will be two years old on April 4th. The conversation also referenced the soon-to-come changes imposed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission on Ontario for advertising and marketing campaigns.

Nathalie Bergeron, the spokesperson for the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, also made her return to show and responded to reporting by a Sherbrooke news outlet last week that the provincial government in La Belle Province has no intentions to follow Ontario and open up a regulated marketplace. Gray, who has called Quebec home for almost 25 years, provided his thoughts on the issue.

The coalition also recently submitted a pre-budget brief to the province to once again make the case for an expanded legal industry, and Bergeron weighed on that report.

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Canadian Gaming Association president/CEO Paul Burns joined the Gaming News Canada Show podcast from London the final day of the ICE conference. Burns offered his perspective on the appearance of Alberta minister Dale Nally at the UK rendezvous of the gambling industry, and what it means for a regulated business coming to the western Canadian province. Burns also summarized the activity Canadian style from ICE, which moves to Barcelona in 2025, and about a Canadian roundtable which included Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey and iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton. Phill Gray also spoke about his week in jolly olde England.

Alannah Della Vedova, the director of content activation and brand for FanDuel, returned to the pod and discussed the operator’s partnership with Bell Media ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, Taylor Swift and the popularity of novelty bets for the NFL championship game. Gray and Kris Abbott later joined in for some sports wagering talk about the Chiefs-Niners tilt.

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The controversy over the amount of advertising by regulated sports betting and gaming operators in Ontario has continued in the first month of 2024. CBC Marketplace enlisted the help of researchers at the University of Bristol in England to track gambling advertising on seven broadcasts of sporting events and with that research finding “gambling messages fill up to 21 per cent of each broadcast, on average”. Last week, Sean Previl of Global News reported on a push from some corners for a ban on gambling advertising across Canada.

Paul Burns, the president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, appeared on the latest Gaming News Canada podcast and expressed his concern with some of the reporting done in the Marketplace piece. Jessica Welman, the editor-in-chief of SBC Americas, questioned the methodology used by the University of Bristol in its findings while industry veteran Amanda Brewer also weighed in on the Marketplace feature.

Burns, Brewer, Welman and Sebastian Jedrzejewski from U.S. Integrity also participated in a discussion on the leading up to new standards from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario on advertising taking effect at the end of February. Finally, sports trading vet Phill Gray offered a couple of thoughts on Sunday’s NFL conference championship games.

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Court is in session this summer, at least the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which is being asked by the provincial government “to answer whether the Ontario’s igaming regime would remain lawful under the Criminal Code (of Canada) if the overall size of the potential gaming audience of the scheme, otherwise known as its liquidity, is expanded to include players outside of Canada”.

The latest session, which took place July 6, included legal representation for the Attorney General of Ontario, the Attorney General of British Columbia, members of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, the Canadian Gaming Association, Flutter Entertainment (owners of PokerStars and FanDuel), NSUS Group Inc. and NSUS Limited (proprietors of GGPoker), and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke.

For their respective perspectives on the court proceedings, the Gaming News Canada Show welcomed back CGA president/CEO Paul Burns and Jack Tadman, the managing partner of GME Law. Burns walked us through the CGA’s role in supporting the province’s request and provided some history around cross/jurisdiction/border online gaming and daily fantasy sports. Tadman added a layer or two, too, to that topic and spoke about what intrigues him about the case and the participants.

Burns had some thoughts last month’s Canadian Gaming Summit and welcomed Kiron Interactive as the association’s newest member. Both Burns and Tadman addressed the ever-evolving nature of regulated sports betting and gaming, and we also asked Tadman for his reaction to the ongoing push by Senator Marty Deacon to pass Bill S-269, National Framework on Advertising for Sports Betting Act. 

From the Dept. of In Case You Missed It, iGaming Ontario released Wednesdayits FY 2024-25 Q1 Market Performance Report.

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In case you missed it, private sports betting and igaming operators delivered record results for iGaming Ontario’s latest market performance report. iGO chief of staff Mitch Davidson appeared on the Gaming News Canada Show to provide details on the double-digit quarterly increases in total wagers and gross gaming revenue for the October-December period. Davidson also answered our questions about what’s top of mind for the government subsidiary in 2024. Regular contributors Amanda Brewer and Phill Gary also lent their respective perspectives on the latest results.

A2Z Ventures founder Eric Herd and Parleh Media Group CEO Mark Silver got into a busy week of CEO shuffling across the sports betting/media industry, highlighted by the departure of Erika Ayers Badans from Barstool Sports and the news that Patrick Keane is stepping down as the chief executive officer of the Action Network more than two years after the sports betting content company was acquired by Better Collective. Herd and Silver also discussed the potential purchase of bankruptcy-bound Diamond Sports Group by Amazon.

Finally, the aforementioned Gray had a few suggestions for football fans around the NFL playoffs’ divisional round this past weekend.

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Josh Turk, the chief strategy officer for Low6, was our guest on the Gaming News Canada Show and spoke about the free-to-play gaming business’s partnership with the National Hockey League, including the creation of the NHL All-Star Vote website, and online sportsbooks. Turk also answered our questions about the role of free-to-play in the evolving business of sports wagering and online gaming with regards to customer acquisition and retention.

Parleh Media Group founder and CEO Mark Silver also joined your humble host and gambling industry insiders Amanda Brewer and Kris Abbott for a conversation on the hiring of Keith Pelley as the new president and chief executive of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Pelley is leaving his head honcho position with the DP World Tour to return to Canada and accept one of the plum gigs in the business of sports world.

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On the return of the Gaming News Canada Show podcast, Amanda Brewer and Kris Abbott weighed in on the issues to watch over the next 12 months. Those include the expected shrinking of Ontario’s regulated online sports betting and gaming industry, the odds of other provinces’s following Ontario’s lead in creating a competitive marketplace, and the finalizing of changes to the standards for advertising and marketing by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. 

The two industry experts also provided their thoughts on the need for more education around the benefits of regulated gambling jurisdictions, what should be the priorities for iGaming Ontario this year, and continued the conversation on responsible gambling initiatives and messaging. Finally, we asked Brewer and Abbott to gaze into their respective crystal balls and make a prediction for 2024.

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