Canada sports-betting bill
Northern exposure: The news that Bill C-218 had passed the Senate with room to spare and will be signed into law within days means Canada’s sports betting is likely to have a similar effect on the Canadian market as the ending of PASPA had in the US three years ago. The biggest winner, according to the analysts at Credit Suisse, will be Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming which the CS team predict will be able to grab 20% of the OSB market. They point out that Ontario, with a population of 14.6m, is effectively the fifth largest single market in North America and is larger than any US state regulated to date (Pennsylvania has circa 13m, Illinois 12.8m). Overall CS suggests the Canadian opportunity could be worth up to $5bn between OSB and iGaming. For its part, Score said the news was “momentous.”
Falling in line: Ontario is expected to be up-and-running by the start of the NFL season, with British Columbia and Alberta launching either late 2021 or early 2022, meaning around 64% of the population will have access to OSB and igaming by the end of next year. Truist Securities suggest unsurprisingly the market will be competitive; DraftKings has previously guided for 10/20% market share while Macquarie pointed out that Flutter and PointsBet have also spoken about Canada expansion. They also throw the name of Penn National, Caesars and MGM (via BetMGM) into the mix. The team noted the attractiveness of the sports culture in Canada which has six NHL teams, one NBA team, one MLB team, and its own football league. Truist issued one word of warning, though: “Of course, risks around irrational spending in Ontario may be a more immediate concern given the competitive rush we expect upon launch.”
Today’s additional articles on Earnings + More:
- Everi Holdings Q2 pre-announcement
- Macau GGR
- Codere Online SPAC
- EVENTS: Gaming Americas conference, Macquarie Technology Summit and Jefferies Virtual Conference
