Ontario Lottery Gaming Announces New Mobile App as Competition Stiffens

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has announced a new mobile app that residents of the province can download and place sports wagers on. 

The Ontario Sportsbook app will be available for both Apple and Android devices and is completely dedicated to sports betting. It’s 100% free to download and allows users to place single-game bets straight from their phones. The app also allows users to build bets and then generate a barcode that can be redeemed for a physical ticket at one of 10,000 different PROLINE retail locations across the province. 

“This latest product enhancement reinforces our commitment to convenience and choice for our players while also offering a competitive sports book with the confidence, trust, and goodwill of the OLG brand,” said OLG Chief Digital and Strategy Officer Dave Pridmore in a special press release. 

Ontario Lottery Gaming Facing Competition As Legal Market Flourishes

Ontario became the first province or territory across Canada to legalize online sports betting sites when it did so on April 4th, 2022. This decision came on the heels of Canada legalizing single-game sports betting in June 2021 with the passing of Bill C-218. 

In August 2021, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission released PROLINE+, an online sportsbook platform that allowed users to place single-game wagers. This gave the government-run organization a head start as private companies were not yet permitted to operate in the province. 

However, the PROLINE+ product was only available through the website as there was no dedicated mobile application. When more than two dozen private sportsbook operators moved into the market, they brought dedicated mobile apps with them. Many sports bettors prefer to have a dedicated app where they can access all their sports betting needs in one convenient place. 

The vast majority of private sportsbook operators already have dedicated mobile apps that have been on the market since the first day possible. This development allows the OLG to match that feature with its option, as well as improve on many of the available apps with the ability to generate physical tickets at PROLINE locations. 

Ontario remains the only province across Canada that has set up the framework for a legal online sports betting market, along with legal online casinos. Eyes across the country remain on Canada’s most populous province to examine the consequences of that decision and to see how online gambling develops. 

How has the Ontario gaming market done months after legalization? 

Because there has yet to be an official release of sports betting revenue data from the newly legal Ontario market, we’re still a bit in the dark in terms of specifics. However, there have been some insights into the performance thus far that we can extract information from. 

One of the challenges for the newly licensed sportsbook operators in the Ontario market has been the prevalence of gray-market sportsbooks. Because Canada was so much less aggressive in cracking down on gray-market sportsbooks compared to somewhere like the United States, the illegal options flourished. 

Despite the fact that the market has turned green in Ontario, many sports bettors are still betting with gray-market sportsbooks, and many may not even know that they aren’t betting with a licensed option. Educating these people about the differences between gray-market and fully legal sportsbooks continues to be a challenge for both the OLG and private operators. 

“In the US, you see an initial pump, a latent demand looking for somewhere to go,” said BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt at the Canadian Gaming Summit. “[In Ontario] there was a much more progressive build, because most players were previously served, which has been a specific challenge to entice players from pre-existing options.” 

New Mobile App One of Many New OLG Strategies 

The brand new mobile app isn’t the only strategy that the OLG has rolled out in an attempt to protect its market share from private opposition. The organization was also the first Canadian lottery corporation to roll out an affiliate program that rewards members for getting others to sign up. 

These are the new steps that provincial lottery commissions need to take if they stand any chance against private sportsbook operators. You can be sure that other provincial lottery commissions are watching closely and planning similar moves for when their province opens a legal market. 

The OLG has also made partnerships with several of the major sports leagues across North America. This includes deals with the NHL and the NFL, expected to likely be the largest two sports gambling markets in Canada.