Q4 Numbers Reveal Ontario iGaming Market’s Impressive Sports Betting Growth During Year 1

Ontario's final quarterly earnings report for the first year of legal sports betting and iGaming industry is out and by all accounts, it was a very successful first 365 days for betting sites.

The Ontario sports betting industry, the only one of its kind so far in Canada grew by at least 50% every quarter since launching on April 4, 2022, and now has the province among the top-performing jurisdictions for the best sportsbooks in the bustling North American market. 

Q4 for the Ontario legal sports betting and iGaming industry covers the three-month period that ended March 31. Thanks to the NFL, the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the start of the Toronto Blue Jays season, and the end of the Toronto Raptors' 2022-23 campaign, Ontario bettors quickly made their province one of the top-five North American iGaming jurisdictions with $35.6 billion in wagers at sports betting sites in Year 1.

Unlike American jurisdictions that report their earnings every month, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario release their numbers every three months.

Ontario's fourth quarter handle

Ontario's legal sports betting, iGaming, casino gaming, and poker industry took in $13.7 billion in bets in Q4, a new record for the province. The Q4 numbers represent a 20.8% increase from the $11.5 billion handle in Q3 and nearly three times higher than the first quarter of legal sports betting and iGaming in Ontario, when the province reported $4.08 billion in wagers.

Surprisingly, it was basketball that was the most popular sport to bet on in Ontario during the first full year of comprehensive legal wagering. Hoops accounted for 31% of the total bets taken in, followed by soccer with 15%. Football came in at 13%, hockey made up a disappointing and surprising 9%, and baseball accounted for 8% of the handle.

And the revenues

Just like Ontario's overall sports betting handle, Q4 revenues for the province's sports betting and iGaming set a record. Ontario's legal betting providers made $526 million in Q4 - 44 operators were taking wagers in the province during that period and benefitted from the robust market.

The $526 million represents a 13.6% increase from the $463 million reported in Q3. Off of that, the province received about $130 million in tax contributions over the three-month period.

Where it brings us after Ontario's first year

As mentioned, Ontario finished its first year as a top-five iGaming jurisdiction in North America. That's saying something.

Over $35 billion was wagered on sports betting in Ontario, as well as iGaming, online casino, and poker sites in the first year of operations. Nearly $1.5 billion in revenue was reported for the provincial government and private legal sports betting and iGaming sites.

The province gets 20% of that $1.4 billion.

Active player accounts totaled 1.65 million for the full year of legal sports betting in Ontario. More than 1 million new active player accounts were reported in Q4 alone. 

The monthly total spend for those active users averaged $174 in Q4, way above the $70 monthly average for the whole first year of legal wagering in the province.

Are other provinces listening?

Ontario’s legal sports betting and iGaming industry is the first of its kind in Canada – there is still no other province in the country with a comprehensive legal system in place. Although true that Ontario is Canada’s biggest province with the most professional sports teams, the legal sports betting and iGaming success there should serve as a wake-up call for other jurisdictions in the Great White North.

Nothing seems to be on the horizon for any other province in Canada to try to emulate what Ontario has done with betting sites in its first full year of legal gambling. Hopes are for other Canadian sports bettors that Ontario’s impressive output can act as some inspiration.