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Benjie Levy

Ontario Emerges as One of North America’s Largest iGaming Markets in First Year

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In just one year, the new legal iGaming market in Ontario has delivered about $35.6 billion in total wagers and approximately $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue, placing the province among the top five iGaming jurisdictions in North America.

iGaming Ontario is thrilled to announce these totals to mark the open market’s one-year anniversary. Ontario was the first Canadian province to launch an open, regulated iGaming market on April 4, 2022. Since then, more than 1.6 million active player accounts on websites run by 40+ operators with agreements with iGaming Ontario have made the province the most competitive market in continental North America.

“Ontario’s iGaming market has displaced the pre-existing unregulated market and made Ontario a recognized leader internationally in this industry since its launch in April of 2022,” the Attorney General of Ontario, Doug Downey, said. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible and competitive online gaming model. I want to especially commend the strong leadership of Executive Director Martha Otton, Board Chair Dave Forestell and the rest of the team at iGaming Ontario for helping us transform Ontario into a global leader in the sector.”

“Today’s numbers demonstrate that Ontario has one of the best online gaming markets in the world,” said Forestell. “Since Ontario opened the market, we have seen new investment, job creation and captured revenue that used to leave the province. Ontario is well on its way to becoming the best gaming jurisdiction in the world.”

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“Every player who places a wager with a legal operator is doing so in a safe, regulated and protected environment,” said Otton. “I want to thank the players, our 40+ operators and our government partners for placing their trust in us. Together we can help this market continue its strong performance.”

Digging into player choices and market trends over the last year:

*On average, iGaming Ontario numbers show the monthly spend per active player account over the last year to be about $70.

*According to an Ipsos survey conducted in March 2023 and released today by the AGCO, around 85% of respondents who gambled online in Ontario over the past three months gambled on regulated sites.

*The most popular sport to bet on was basketball at 28% of betting wagers followed by soccer at 15%, football at 14%, then hockey at 9% and baseball at 8%.

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*Within the online casino category, nearly half (48%) of all casino wagers were on slots, nearly a third (32%) on table games with a live dealer and the remainder (19%) on computer-based table games.

Quotes

Bet365:

“As one of the first companies to join Ontario’s regulated iGaming market, we welcome that our ongoing relationship with iGaming Ontario has allowed us to offer a quality product for our customers in a safe and responsible environment. We look forward to working together into the future to continue to raise standards in the regulated market.”

George Sweny, Regulatory Affairs Vice-President for Flutter International:

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“At Flutter, we are so proud of Ontario’s success in establishing a regulated and competitive iGaming market over the past year. We invested in growing our local Canadian team to launch a full range of both FanDuel and PokerStars’ safe and trusted products as registered operators in the province, allowing Ontario sports fans and Casino players to engage responsibly.

Bruce Caughill, Canada Managing Director for Rush Street Interactive:

“It has been an exciting first year for BetRivers in the province. We have enjoyed a positive and receptive response from customers to our many products. It has been great collaborating with iGaming Ontario, who has been instrumental in making this launch a success for all stakeholders.

Benjie Levy, President and Chief Operating Officer for theScore and Head of Penn Interactive:

“As Canada’s first province to establish a legal market for private operators, Ontario has distinguished itself while proving the widespread benefits that derive from a consumer friendly and commercially minded framework.”

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Benjie Levy

PENN Entertainment Announces Strategic Partnership with Quail Hollow Club for ESPN BET Market Access in North Carolina

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PENN Entertainment Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary PENN Sports Interactive LLC has entered into a long-term, multi-faceted partnership with Quail Hollow Club and the Wells Fargo Championship ahead of the launch of regulated online sports wagering in North Carolina. Under the agreement with Quail Hollow Club, PENN secures market access for its online sports wagering platform ESPN BET in North Carolina, subject to regulatory approvals.

Additionally, ESPN BET will become the exclusive official betting operator of the Wells Fargo Championship, a PGA TOUR Signature Event held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. As the event’s official betting operator, ESPN BET gains access to various marketing integrations, including the opportunity to activate and engage golf fans on-site during the tournament.

“We are thrilled to partner with Quail Hollow Club and the Wells Fargo Championship as we prepare to bring our new online sports betting brand, ESPN BET, to North Carolina. Along with market access, we’re excited to sponsor the popular Wells Fargo Championship and look forward to working together with our new partners to create unique fan activations,” Benjie Levy, Head of Penn Interactive, said.

“We welcome the upcoming launch of regulated online sports wagering in North Carolina and are extremely pleased to partner with a leading gaming and entertainment operator in PENN Entertainment. PENN’s compelling online sports betting brand ESPN BET, cutting-edge technology and extensive operational expertise make them an ideal long-term partner for this industry,” Johnny Harris, President of Quail Hollow Club, said.

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Barstool Sportsbook & Casino

PENN Entertainment Completes Migration of Barstool Sportsbook & Casino to Proprietary Technology Platform

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PENN Entertainment Inc. announced that it has released a new and improved Barstool Sportsbook & Casino following the successful full-scale migration to the Company’s proprietary online gaming technology platform (PENN Interactive Gaming Platform). The migration to PENN’s custom technology stack in the US is a major achievement that brings all components of its online gaming operation in-house and significantly enhances the Barstool Sportsbook product offering.

The migration to the state-of-the-art technology platform was completed simultaneously across all 16 jurisdictions where Barstool Sportsbook operates during the MLB All-Star Break. The platform deployment and product upgrade completes PENN’s long-term strategic objective to achieve technology independence, which includes the acquisition of Score Media and Gaming Inc. (theScore) and launch of Penn Game Studios in 2021.

Custom built for the North American market, the vertically integrated technology stack increases platform stability and is designed to be easily scalable to expand into new markets and meet evolving regulatory requirements. The Company has also fully upgraded the Barstool Sportsbook product with numerous enhancements, including:

  • Streamlined navigation and search across sportsbook markets and casino games
  • More wagering markets, including expanded player props and in-game betting
  • Greater personalization capabilities, enhanced promotions and more Barstool exclusive offers
  • Faster load times, deposits and withdrawals
  • Improved cash out availability
  • Deeper integrations with theScore media app, allowing users to build and track their betslips within theScore.

“Migrating onto our proprietary technology platform and introducing a fully upgraded Barstool Sportsbook is a milestone achievement. Having full control of our product and roadmap will lead to improved operational efficiency and the ability to quickly introduce new features, bespoke promotions and wagering markets. I want to congratulate our Interactive team members who worked tirelessly to ensure a successful on schedule migration, which better positions us to compete in the online gaming space,” Jay Snowden, CEO and President of PENN Entertainment, said.

“A technology migration of this scale requires an enormous amount of coordination and planning, and I’m extremely proud of our Interactive team who stepped up to the challenge to execute this complex project on time and with minimal disruption to customers. Deploying our technology infrastructure puts our experienced in-house team, who built the platform from the ground up, in full control of the end-to-end customer journey and all product development. With this proven technology powering a significantly enhanced Barstool Sportsbook, we are primed to deliver a world class online sportsbook and casino experience to customers in the US,” Benjie Levy, Head of Penn Interactive and President and COO of theScore, said.

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