Each week, Canada Sports Betting recaps all the top sports betting and iGaming news in Canada, highlights the event of the week, and takes a look ahead at some of the most intriguing games to bet on over the weekend.
Event of the week
NFL Week 18 – Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers – Sunday, Jan. 8
The final week of the NFL regular season won’t be lacking drama.
Several teams are still battling for playoff spots and positioning heading into the final weekend of play, and the race for the final playoff seed in the NFC is particularly intriguing.
The Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers are all vying for the No. 7 seed, and ironically, the Lions and Packers will square off on Sunday night in a game that will ultimately decide the fate of all three teams.
Green Bay can simply clinch the final playoff spot with a win over Detroit. The Lions need to beat the Packers in Green Bay and Seattle would have to lose to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the day in order for Detroit to clinch. Seattle needs a win and Green Bay to lose on Sunday night in order to advance.
The Packers, who have won four straight games to keep their playoff hopes alive, are 4.5-point favourites at Betway against the Lions with the total set at 49.5 points.
Seattle is a hearty 6.5-point favourite against the Rams.
Caesars Windsor to launch sportsbook
Caesars Windsor announced Wednesday that it will unveil its new full-service retail sportsbook on Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. ET.
Bettors and sports fans will be able to enjoy 22 large-screen TVs with state-of-the-art sound in a dedicated seating area and they’ll also be able to enjoy menu items from Legends Sports Bar. The sportsbook will feature three betting windows and seven sports betting kiosks in the room.
Caesars Windsor launched 10 sports betting kiosks on its property on Nov. 3 and also announced construction was already underway on a its retail sportsbook with an estimated completion date of early 2023, which apparently proved to be an incredibly accurate timeline.
Caesars Windsor attracts roughly 6 million visitors annually from Ontario and nearby U.S. states like Michigan and Ohio.
Retail sports betting launched in the province of Ontario on Oct. 31 when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced it had reached an agreement on compliance with the Ontario government.
In-person sports wagering is also available at over a dozen other casinos throughout Ontario, including Casino Woodbine, Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara, among others.
Nitrocasino.ca shutters Ontario operations
With nearly 70 iGaming sites now live in Ontario, consolidation in the market seemed inevitable.
One of the first casualties of the new market is PressEnter Europe Limited’s Nitrocasino.ca, which shuttered its operations in the province on Dec. 30.
lNitrocasino.ca was the 43rd regulated online gaming site that went live in Ontario on Oct. 13.
PressEnter Europe Limited, which was granted an Ontario iGaming license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario in late September, is headquartered in Malta and specializes in online casino offerings. According to its website, Nitro Casino was launched in 2020 and features slots and table games from over 50 different providers.
Ohio launches sports betting
Sports betting in the state of Ohio is officially legal.
A group of 16 digital operators and 13 retail sportsbooks — including Barstool Sportsbook, BetMGM, BetRivers, bet365, Caesars Sportsbook, FanDuel, DraftKings, and PointsBet — went live last Sunday, or soon after, to ring in the new year.
More than 11 million sports betting transactions were recorded in Ohio on Sunday and Monday, according to GeoComply. Ohio’s 11.3 million geolocation transactions on Sunday and Monday paced all U.S. states during that time period. New York was second with 9.3 million transactions, while Pennsylvania was third with just over 8 million.
After Ohio’s launch, online and retail sports betting is now legal in all of the U.S. states (Michigan, New York State, and Pennsylvania) surrounding the province of Ontario.
