Ontario handle hits C$63bn for FY 2023 as market enters its third year
Operators report C$2.4bn in total revenue as active player accounts for Q4 hits 1.3
Ontario’s regulated market reported total wagers of C$63bn in its second year of being live, representing a 78% increase on the market’s first year of operations.
The regulated Ontario market went live on 4 April 2022, with the current fiscal year, as reported by Igaming Ontario (iGO), running from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
Gaming revenue for the reporting period amounted to C$2.4bn, representing a 72% increase during the 2022 to 2023 period.
As of March 31, 2024, the IGO reported there were 47 licensed operators running 77 gaming sites in the province.
There were a total of 1.3 million active player accounts during Q4, which ran from January 1 to March 31, with monthly spend per active player coming in at C$263.
Looking at figures for each vertical during Q4, online casino handle landed at C$14.6bn, an 88% year-on-year (YOY) increase, while sports betting handle stood at C$2.7bn, representing a 39% YOY rise – betting wagers included sports, esports, prop, and novelty bets.
Total revenue for both online casino and sports betting was C$510m and C$161m, respectively, with casino rising 89% YOY and sports betting seeing a 36% YOY increase.
Peer-to-peer poker handle came in at C$446m during Q4 with revenue standing at C$19m, increases of 64% and 67% YOY, respectively.
Across the full year, igaming handle landed at C$51.7bn, sports betting at C$9.7bn, and poker at C$1.6bn.
Revenue for the three verticals over the 12 months came in at C$1.8bn for igaming, C$588m for sports, and C$67m for poker.
Martha Otton, iGO executive director, said she is eager to see the market improve as it enters its third year.
She remarked: “With C$63bn in wagering and C$2.4bn in gaming revenue, the second year of Ontario’s igaming market is more than 70% bigger than the first [year].
“As the market matures into its third year, I look forward to building on this foundation of success with operators and other partners as they invest in Ontario so that Ontarians can continue to play with confidence.”
EGR collated data and reactions from some of the province’s key players to mark the two-year anniversary of Ontario’s market launch.
Ahead of the April landmark, a survey conducted by Maru Public Opinion, which surveyed 1,534 adults, found that 59% wanted an immediate sports betting ad ban.