Canada
PlayPennsylvania.com: Sports wagering falls to lowest level since July 2020
Pennsylvania’s sports betting volume slipped in July to the lowest level since July 2020, falling to $304 million and continuing a slowing trend in July that has affected nearly every major U.S. market, according to PlayPennsylvania, which tracks regulated online gaming and sports betting in the state.
“Even with the NBA Finals and the Olympics to help boost the schedule this year, bettors in Pennsylvania and beyond just don’t engage sportsbooks as much during July,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayPennsylania.com. “This year in particular saw a surge in nationwide travel, which means people were occupied with family vacations and other summer activities. That said, sportsbooks cannot wait for football season to ramp up.”
Bettors placed $304.4 million in wagers at Pennsylvania’s online and retail sportsbooks in July, down 27.6% from $420.2 million in June, according to official data released Monday. July’s handle was up 84.7% from $164.8 million in July 2020, which was the last month with a handle of less than $364 million and featured the relaunch of baseball and the NBA after a months-long hiatus.
Lower volume sapped gross gaming revenue, which fell 35.3% to $27.5 million from $42.5 million in June, but up 101.3% from $13.7 million in July 2020. The month’s gross receipts led to $19.9 million in taxable revenue, which yielded $6.8 million in state taxes and $397,124 in local share assessments.
The drop in wagering has historical context. July was the lowest volume month in the U.S. in both 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic permuted sports betting data in 2020.
“The time zone difference dampened interest in the Olympics, but they were likely never going to move the needle significantly anyway,” said Valerie Cross, analyst for PlayPennsylvania.com. “The Phillies playing better almost certainly helped. But seasonal dips this time of year are nothing to be concerned about.”
Online betting accounted for $275.4 million in wagers, making up 90.5% of the state’s total handle in July. Once again, FanDuel topped the online market with $106.7 million in online wagering — down 34.3% from $162.5 million in June but capturing 38.7% of all online wagers in July. FanDuel’s gross gaming revenue from online betting fell to $12.3 million from $19.7 million in June, yielding $9.5 million in taxable revenue.
DraftKings followed with a $66.2 million handle, down from $86.0 million in June. July’s handle produced $4.0 million in gross revenue, down from $6.4 million in June, and $2.8 million in taxable revenue.
Penn National’s Barstool-branded app finished fourth in the state, behind BetMGM, with a $24.5 million handle in July, down from $31.9 million in June. Those bets led to $2.3 million in gross revenue and $1.7 million in taxable revenue.
The online leaders were followed by:
- BetMGM ($29.0 million handle, down from $37.4 million in June; $2.3 million in gross gaming revenue, up from $2.2 million)
- BetRivers ($14.5 million handle, down from $18.5 million; $1.3 million GGR, down from $1.4 million)
- Fox Bet ($10.0 million handle, down from $12.6 million; $709,376 GGR, down from $934,728)
- SugarHouse ($9.0 million handle, down from $11.3 million; $680,099 in GGR, down from $918,873)
- Parx Casino ($7.9 million handle, down from $9.8 million; $745,087 GGR, down from $1.1 million)
- Unibet ($4.5 million handle, down from $4.7 million; $316,936 GGR, down from $376,848)
- TwinSpires ($2.1 million handle, down from $2.2 million; $179,276 GGR, down from $194,104)
- Caesars ($947,532 handle, down from $1.5 million; -$126,967 GGR, down from $56,986)
- Wind Creek ($406,259 handle, down from $771,648; $6,284 GGR, down from $33,801)
- Betway ($563,481 handle; up from $14,883; -$32,239 GGR, down from $3,655)
Meanwhile, retail sportsbooks took in $29.0 million in wagers in June, down from $40.9 million in June. Those bets yielded $2.7 million in gross gaming revenue, down 45.4% from $4.9 million in June. Rivers Philadelphia topped the retail market with $5.9 million in bets, ahead of Parx Casino’s $4.0 million handle.
“The pandemic will continue to be the most important factor for the retail market for the foreseeable future,” Gouker said. “As the latest surge shows, the hope that retail sports betting would return to normal by football season seems overly optimistic.”
Online casinos and poker
Gross gaming revenue from online casinos and poker rooms rose 3.6% to $104.5 million from $100.8 million in June. Year-over-year, iGaming gross revenue is up 52.9% from $68.4 million in July 2020. July marks the fifth straight month surpassing $100 million in gross revenue.
July’s gross revenue was whittled to $88.7 million in taxable revenue, down from $88.9 million in June. That still produced $38.2 million in state and local taxes.
Online casinos and poker rooms have now produced $508.1 million in state and local taxes over the more than two years since launching in July 2019. Only New Jersey has wrung more tax revenue from online casinos and poker with $662.6 million — but that market launched in November 2013, nearly six years before Pennsylvania.
“As closely as it now tracks with New Jersey, no state benefits more from online gambling than Pennsylvania,” Cross said. “There was a lot of concern in the industry that regulators had initially set tax rates too high, and a slow start to the industry seemed to back that up. Now it seems that Pennsylvania’s aggressive taxing has been a clear win for the state.”
Other highlights from July:
- Wagering on online casino games reached $3.2 billion in July, down from $1.8 billion in July 2020.
- Online casino and poker rooms generated $3.4 million in gross gaming revenue per day over the 31 days of July, even with June.
- Penn National, which includes the DraftKings, BetMGM, Barstool, and Hollywood casinos, topped the market with $36.9 million in revenue. Rivers Philadelphia, which includes SugarHouse, Borgata, and BetRivers casinos, was second with $30.9 million.
- Poker generated $2.6 million in revenue, down from $3.0 million in July 2020. Mount Airy/PokerStars topped operators with $2.0 million.
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BetVictor Canada has launched its new out-of-home advertising campaign across the streets of Toronto to promote NBA legend Tracy McGrady as its Safer Gambling Ambassador.
Two mobile digital trucks strategically targeting high-traffic areas near Scotiabank Arena, Rogers Centre, and major sporting events will provide prime audience exposure for the campaign, scheduled around Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Blue Jays home games.
To further enhance the campaign’s reach, BetVictor Canada has partnered with Clear Media Group to leverage digital taxi tops across Toronto, providing city-wide exposure with 100 taxis displaying key brand messaging. These digital taxi tops will run during peak evening hours (5:00pm – 9:00pm) on select dates until April 5th, 2025.
The campaign coincides with Problem Gambling Awareness Month, a nationwide grassroots campaign held each March that seeks to increase public awareness of problem gambling and promote prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
BetVictor Canada offers an array of tools and services to help its Canadian customers bet and play safely and responsibly, across a host of sports betting markets and online casino games.
Mark Harper, Head of Emerging Markets at BV Group, said: “BetVictor is delighted to be participating in the National Council of Problem Gambling campaign in March, to help increase public awareness of problem gambling and the need to promote prevention, treatment and recovery services.
“In using our Safer Gambling Ambassador, Tracy McGrady, to raise awareness about BetVictor’s safer gambling tools such as loss limits, time alerts and product restrictions we are dedicated to ensuring all players have a safe gambling experience. #PGAM2025.”
The post BetVictor Canada launches Tracy McGrady Safer Gambling campaign appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
AGCO
AGCO issues $110,000 in penalties to BetMGM Canada for offering cash to induce new gambling customers
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has served BetMGM Canada Inc. with an Order of Monetary Penalty (OMP) of $110,000 for violations of the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming.
In two separate incidents in 2024, BetMGM engaged marketing companies who offered cash to members of the public in return for opening new BetMGM accounts. The marketing activities occurred in public forums, such as a major national trade conference. Under AGCO’s Standards, operators are responsible for the conduct of their third-party suppliers who are contracted to support the operator’s Ontario gaming business, and must require their third-parties to meet Ontario laws, regulations and standards (Standard 1.19).
Ontario is one of the first jurisdictions in the world to establish and enforce rules that strictly limit high-risk inducement advertising and marketing in the online gambling industry. Registered iGaming operators are prohibited from offering gambling inducements, bonuses and credits as part of their broad public advertising and marketing activities (Standard 2.05). These Standards exist to protect Ontarians from predatory advertising and promotional marketing practices in order to limit the risk of gambling-related harm.
A registered operator served with an OMP by the AGCO has the right to appeal the Registrar’s decision to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), which is an adjudicative tribunal independent of the AGCO and part of Tribunals Ontario.
QUOTE
“Responsible gambling safeguards and the protection of Ontarians on registered gaming sites is among our key priorities. The AGCO monitors the activities of all registered operators and their third-party suppliers to ensure they are meeting our high standards and we continue to take strong action to ensure they operate within the public interest.”
Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar – AGCO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
BetMGM Canada Inc. failed to comply with the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. Specifically, the licensee failed to comply with the following provisions of the Standards:
- 1.19 Operators are responsible for the actions of third parties with whom they contract for the provision of any aspect of the Operator’s business related to gaming in Ontario and must require the third party to conduct themselves in so far as they carry out activities on behalf of the operator as if they were bound by the same laws, regulations, and standards.
- 2.05 Advertising and marketing materials that communicate gambling inducements, bonuses and credits are prohibited, except on an operator’s gaming site and through direct advertising and marketing, after receiving active player consent.
Contrary to the Standards, BetMGM Canada Inc. and/or their affiliates allegedly engaged in the following activities:
| a) | On or about January 13 and 14, 2024, BetMGM representatives were alleged to have attended the National Franchise Show and were offering $100 in cash to new players for opening a new account and depositing $15. |
| b) | On or about March 11, 2024, BetMGM acknowledged that its marketing affiliate “Above the Street” had engaged in prohibited inducement marketing. The conduct resulted in 377 player sign-ups and $127,180.00 in commissions to “Above the Street”. |
| c) | On or about April 13, 2024, another BetMGM marketing affiliate “Maple Leaf Marketing” engaged in prohibited inducements and marketing to induce on-site activations and acquire new players. The conduct resulted in 94 player sign-ups and about $34,000.00 in commissions paid to “Maple Leaf Marketing”. |
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BCLC’s new “What’s played here stays here” campaign is issuing an important reminder to British Columbians who choose to gamble – specifically that all net profit its operations generate stays in B.C. to help fund critical services like education, health care and community programs.
The campaign also reinforces that all other gambling websites operating in B.C. are illegal and take away funds from critical community programs and services.
“Across B.C. and Canada, we’ve seen incredible groundswell around the importance of buying and supporting local, and that’s no different for British Columbians who choose gambling for their entertainment. We want our B.C. players to know they can find a world-class gambling experience in their own backyard, whether it’s at one of our 33 casinos, 3,400 lottery retailers, or online at PlayNow.com, and that the proceeds from their play with BCLC make a positive impact at home in their community,” Pat Davis, President and CEO of BCLC, said.
Along with illegal online gambling websites, BCLC also competes with Washington State and Las Vegas casinos, all of which aggressively market to B.C. residents.
“BCLC continues to raise awareness that these gambling options do not support B.C.’s economy and take away funds from vital provincial and community-based programs and services. In a time when British Columbians are standing united, we want to reinforce that playing together with BCLC helps make B.C. even better,” Pat Davis added.
The post BCLC Launches “What’s played here stays here” Campaign appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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