Shutterstock/JHVEPhoto Ontarians expected to see private online gambling operators join the province’s iGaming market this month. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a little longer. Competition for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is now expected to occur in Q1 2022.
The delays seem to be merely procedural, but a larger problem may loom. A new report from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario (OAG) alleges the upcoming marketplace may violate federal law.
Provincial officials received the Internet Gaming in Ontario report on Dec. 1 as part of the OAG’s 2021 Annual Report. The report asserts that the plan for the marketplace needs some rethinking. However, within the same report are responses from the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG) that contend the system will function well as is.
To understand what the OAG alleges in its report about the status quo possibly violating federal law, it’ll help to have a bit of background on the proposed addition of private online gambling operators to the existing Ontario online casino offerings. Ontario iGaming market regulation
On Aug. 18, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) released a guide for interested iGaming operators about how to register and apply for an operator agreement. A few weeks after releasing the Internet Gaming Operator Application Guide, AGCO began accepting applications on Sept. 13 from private operators, including those who had previously been serving the market in unregulated fashion.
Ontarians spend $500 million a year with these operators, says Paul Burns , president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA). He was moderating a session on Dec. 1 at the SBC Summit North America.
The OAG report considers this an underestimate, stating that Ontarians spend more like $1 billion total on online gambling, 70% of that at the thousands of unregulated gaming websites.
Ontario is working to bring those gray market operators into a regulated marketplace in order to capture that revenue. In the process, it will protect citizens, who currently have no legal recourse when dealing with offshore gambling companies.
AGCO said prospective operator applicants also needed to “enter into a commercial […]
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