Northern Exposure: iGaming Ontario Selects Vendors For Centralized Self-Exclusion Program

Greg Warren
Written by: Greg Warren

Each week, Canada Sports Betting recaps all the top sports betting and iGaming news in Canada and highlights upcoming events.

Our top stories this week

Event of the week

2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Games have been a welcomed distraction for sports bettors during the dog days of summer, and the best is yet to come leading up to the Closing Ceremonies next Sunday.

Canada has amassed seven medals heading into all competitions as of Thursday morning, including two golds from Summer McIntosh in women’s swimming and Christa Deguchi in women’s judo.

It’ll be an eventful weekend at the Games, with many marquee events in track and field getting underway, but many Canadians will be watching and betting on our women’s soccer and men’s basketball teams as they both advance into the knockout rounds in their respective competitions. The Canadian women’s soccer team (+1400 to win gold at NorthStar Bets) will play Germany in the quarterfinals on Saturday after overcoming a major drone scandal that forced them to post a perfect 3-0 group stage in order to qualify, while the men’s basketball team (+800 to win gold at bet365) has already qualified for the quarterfinals next Tuesday with one more group stage game to play on Friday.

If you want to get in on some Olympic betting action, be sure to check out our list of top online sportsbooks!

iGaming Ontario selects vendor for centralized self-exclusion program

A major step was taken Thursday in the process of developing a centralized self-exclusion program for online gamblers in Ontario.

iGaming Ontario has selected a joint bid by Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360), a global technology and consultancy firm that specializes in providing comprehensive integrity and compliance solutions for sports, sports betting, gaming, and igaming, and IXUP, a pioneering technology company that has developed world-class software facilitating the secure sharing and analysis of sensitive information using advanced encryption technology, it announced in a press release Thursday.

“This project reflects our ongoing commitment to build on the existing player protections here in Ontario,” said iGaming Ontario Executive Director Martha Otton in the release. “With IC360’s tech-first expertise in betting integrity through ProhiBet and IXUP’s demonstrated success with BetStop (national self-exclusion register) in Australia, we’re confident they will help us build a robust self-exclusion system for Ontarians who decide to take a short- or long-term break from gambling.”

iGaming Ontario and the IC360-IXUP team will begin developing the centralized self-exclusion system immediately, working closely with all its igaming operators and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. With the new centralized self-exclusion system, players will be able to self-exclude from all regulated igaming sites in Ontario at once, including OLG.ca, adding another layer of protection under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)’s Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming.

Each regulated igaming site in Ontario is already required by the AGCO to offer a self-exclusion program that is well-promoted, easily accessible to customers, and includes resources and information about problem gambling support services. This new program will ensure bettors can’t exclude themselves from one operator but still play with another.

Ontario’s regulated igaming market launched in April 2022 with the intention to quickly develop a centralized self-exclusion program, which is now just getting some serious momentum. Regardless of the timeframe, the new system will certainly be lauded by responsible gambling organizations and advocates.

OLG extends Windsor Casino operating agreement

Caesars will continue to operate the land-based casino in Windsor, Ontario, until at least March 2026, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced last week.

The OLG has made the decision to extend the contract for seven months under the current operating agreement while it continues to conduct a procurement process to select a service provider for the day-to-day operations of the casino. OLG says an announcement regarding the successful service provider is likely in spring 2025.

OLG says procurement details will remain confidential throughout the process, but it’s rumoured that Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment and Bally’s Corp are also finalists alongside Caesars to run the casino in the future.

Caesars Windsor launched one of the first land-based sportsbooks in the province of Ontario in early 2023, but the hours were recently cut at the sportsbook.

“Our sportsbook operation has created a lot of energy and excitement as a new amenity for the property and continues to be an important part of our business now and into the future,” a Caesars Windsor spokesperson told Canada Sports Betting. “After a careful review of our sports betting trends, the operating hours of Caesars Sportsbook have been adjusted to better align with guest preferences. We continue to offer live window transactions on peak days, times, and during key sporting events and continue to offer kiosk betting 24/7.”

Caesars has operated the casino in Windsor for roughly 30 years.

PointsBet’s Canadian earnings

PointsBet reported its FY2024 Q4 (April-June) financials this week, and the Australian operator continues to trend in the right direction with its Canadian (Ontario) business.

Betting win in the Ontario market was up 124% to $15.2 million (Australian dollars – $1 AUD= approx. $0.90 cents CAD) for the full-year, while turnover was also up 31% to $255 million. As for igaming in Canada, PointsBet posted a net win of $18.8 million, up 63.5% from the previous year.

PointsBet’s Managing Director and Group CEO Sam Swanell said that Canada still has “more strong growth potential” during the investor presentation. PointsBet could expand into the province of Alberta when it opens its planned regulated igaming and sports betting market later this year or in 2025.

Swanell said PointsBet successfully completed the sale of its U.S. business to Fanatics, receiving the final payment of $50 million (AUD). The full sale amounted to $225 million.

PointsBet closed the financial year with a gross profit margin of 50% and an EBITDA loss of $1.8 million, which is much lower than initially projected.