Kambi Group Inks Deal With Great Canadian Entertainment
Contents
Details of Partnership
On Oct. 20, Kambi Group announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Great Canadian Entertainment (GCE) to provide retail sportsbook solutions to 10 of the operator’s casinos in Ontario.
GCE is home to 25 casinos across Canada, 12 of which are located in the newly launched sports betting market in Ontario. The press release does not detail which 10 locations will be equipped with a Kambi-powered retail sportsbook. It did however reveal that Pickering Casino Resort, one of Ontario’s newest land-based casinos, will be one of them. It’s possible that Great Blue Heron Casino could be included as well, as the casino was hiring for sportsbook positions earlier this year.
“The addition of sports betting at 10 of our Ontario-based gaming destinations is an important new amenity, elevating the gaming experience for our guests,” said Tony Rodio, CEO at GCE. “As the first company to launch this type of product in Ontario, we are thankful for our partnership with Kambi throughout this new venture as well as the continued support from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and Ontario’s provincial government.”
The OLG and AGCO have not yet established a legal structure for retail sportsbooks in the province outside of Ontario’s provincial lottery, so this won’t this won’t roll out immediately. However, it’s safe to assume it’s in the works now that this partnership is public.
The 10 locations chosen will have “state-of-the-art betting kiosks with fully configurable digital signage functionality,” according to Kambi. In return, Kambi’s 2022 revenue is expected to get a small but positive financial impact and their 2023 revenue is expected to benefit even more.
“This underlines our position as the leading multi-channel sportsbook provider in North America and we are looking forward to working with the talented team at Great Canadian to deliver a market-leading sportsbook experience for its patrons,” said Kristian Nylén, Kambi CEO and Co-founder. He is “delighted to form this exciting sports betting partnership with Great Canadian, which is rightly regarded as one of Canada’s premier gaming and entertainment companies with an unrivalled retail footprint.”
We are excited to have signed a multi-year partnership with @GRTCanadian, one of the largest gaming and entertainment companies in Canada, to provide our leading on-property sportsbook to 10 of the operator’s casinos in the province of Ontario.https://t.co/tNulhbi7Ej pic.twitter.com/TksobyBjP3
— Kambi (@KambiSports) October 20, 2022
More On Canadian Sports Betting
On April 4, 13 sportsbooks launched in Ontario to commence the beginning of online sports betting and iGaming in Ontario. Several others have launched since, and its inaugural app, Proline+, is still available in the province as well. Canada allows all provinces to regulate their own sports betting markets, and many of them offer some form of sports betting via provincial lotteries. Ontario however, was the first in the country to offer a competitive, more traditional, sports betting market.
Earlier this October, Ontario regulators reported that the commercial online gaming market took more than CAD $6 billion in bets from July 1 to Sept. 30 and CAD $267 million in revenue. This is not indicative of sports betting handle or revenue, but all iGaming in Ontario, which includes sports betting.
Alberta seems to be another province in line to explore sports betting in the country, as regulators in the province have indicated that they are seeking proposals for retail sportsbooks. The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) of Saskatoon, also announced that Saskatchewan’s first and only legal online gaming and sports betting site, PlayNow.com, will be available to Saskatchewan residents beginning Nov. 3.
