iGaming Ontario – the market’s regulator – published data from Ontario’s wagering market for the period between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. Ontario’s online gambling market went live on 4 April 2022, making this the second year of operation.
As of 31 March 2024, 47 operators were licensed in Ontario, holding 77 gaming sites between them.
Looking back over the last four quarters, wagering was highest in Q4, hitting $17.8bn. Wagering totals grew steadily over the year, beginning with $14.0bn in Q1 and following on with $14.2bn in Q2. Wagers then jumped significantly to $17.2bn in Q3.
In terms of gaming types, casino contributed the highest amount in wagers throughout the year, totalling at $51.7bn. Betting accounted for $9.7bn, while peer-to-peer (P2P) poker made up the remaining $1.6bn.
For the fourth quarter alone, casino generated $14.6bn in wagers. Betting accounted for $2.7bn and P2P poker made up $446m.
Gaming revenue and Q4 performance
Gaming revenue consists of the total cash wagers and includes fees paid by operators. This came to $2.4bn for the year ended 31 March 2024. Much like wagering, revenue climbed steadily over the year, beginning at $540m in Q1 and ending at $690m in the final quarter.
As expected, casino generated the highest gaming revenue by category, hitting $1.8bn for the year overall. This total was $588m for betting and $63m for P2P poker.
As seen across the board, the fourth quarter provided a final boost to the overall gaming revenue. Casino generated $510m in gaming revenue in Q4, while betting accounted for $161m. A total of $19m came from P2P poker.
A total of 1.3m player accounts were active during Q4. These are defined as accounts with wagering activity, and do not represent individual unique players. Monthly spend per active player in Q4 was $263.
Martha Otton, executive director of iGaming Ontario, praised the growth of Ontario’s igaming market in its second full year.
“With $63bn in wagering and $2.4bn in gaming revenue, the second year of Ontario’s igaming market is more than 70% bigger than the first,” said Otton.
“As the market matures into its third year, I look forward to building on this foundation of success with operators and other partners as they invest in Ontario so that Ontarians can continue to play with confidence.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/second-year-of-regulated-ontarian-igaming-sees-63bn-in-wagers/
