canadiangamingbusiness

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has fined BetMGM Canada $110,000 for offering cash to new customers who signed up and placed a deposit.

The AGCO’s regulations expressly forbid gambling operators who are licensed in Ontario from publicly advertising sign-up bonuses or any other inducements designed to attract new players (Standard 2.05). The regulator also makes operators responsible for the conduct of their third-party partners such as marketing affiliates (Standard 1.19).

The commission said in a news release that BetMGM violated its Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming in separate incidents.

The AGCO asserts that in January 2024, BetMGM representatives allegedly attended the National Franchise Show and were offering $100 in cash to new players who opened a new account and deposited $15. Two months later, said the AGCO, BetMGM acknowledged that its marketing affiliate Above the Street had engaged in prohibited inducement marketing.

BetMGM signed up 377 new..

The Canadian Gaming Summit is set to make its return to Toronto June 17-19, bringing together industry leaders, regulators, and innovators for the largest Canadian gaming and betting event.

With a renewed focus on driving critical conversations on regulatory shifts, emerging technologies, and market expansion, this year’s summit will ensure that voices from coast to coast, including provincial regulators and First Nations gaming leaders, help shape the industry’s future.

The 28th edition of this legacy event, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, will bring together 3,000 industry professionals, including 1,000 operators, 200 affiliates, 150 expert speakers and 75 exhibitors. With a dynamic conference agenda and plenty of networking opportunities, the event will be the key meeting point for the who’s who of Canada’s gaming and betting industry.

“The Canadian Gaming Summit continues to evolve as the premier gathering for industry leaders across the country. With dynamics shift..

March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM) in the U.S. and BetMGM is boosting the responsible gaming messaging they offer via the GameSense program.

Developed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) and first licensed to MGM Resorts in 2017, the GameSense program offers a range of responsible gambling resources and player supports for gamblers in person and online.

As part of the PGAM expansion, BetMGM will integrate responsible gaming reminders into its online sportsbook and casino as well as its retail sportsbooks. QR codes will allow users easy access to resources.

GameSense Advisors are present at BetMGM Sportsbooks and MGM Rewards desks for player support.

GameSense is used by a range of gaming operators and stakeholders including several Canadian provinces and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

MGM extends Kindbridge program
The GameSense augmentation isn’t the only step MGM Resorts International is taking for PGAM.

BetMGM is expanding its Kindbridge Beha..

It’s Super Bowl season again, and almost half of Ontarians who plan to watch Sunday’s Big Game will be betting on it too.

A survey conducted by Leger for the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) suggested that 63% of Ontarians plan to watch the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles.

However, less than half of the viewers (48%) intend to place at least one bet on it. That is up from 41% last year but is down from a high of 54% in 2023, which marked the first Super Bowl since Ontario opened up its saturated commercial online gambling market.

The propensity to bet on the Super Bowl skews towards older generations. The report found that Ontario sports bettors over 45 are more likely to bet on the game (52%) than those aged 18-44 (45%). White viewers are significantly more likely to bet on Super Bowl LIX (54%) than Ontarians who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour (42%).

Betting increases excitement for many
The online survey of 1,147 Ontario adults, conducte..

Alberta’s government has stopped funding a non-profit organization that provides education and other support for problem gamblers as the province prepares to expand its online gambling market.

The government has provided the Problem Gambling Resources Network with $129,700 in annual funding on an annual basis via a deal that has been in place in some form for more than 30 years.

However, earlier this month, the network’s Executive Director Ray Reshke told the Canadian Press was told the government was ending its three-year contract, meaning that the Edmonton-based organization “had our rug pulled out from under us a year early.” Reshke said the money represents 95% of the network’s annual budget but will now run out at the end of February, and he fears the organization will have to shut down as a result.

The network does not offer direct counselling but does offer a drop-in centre and an education program which Reshke estimates has held “around 10,000 gambling education presentation..

iGaming is a fiercely competitive industry for operators vying for revenue share and market leadership. But when it comes to safer gambling and player protection, it’s crucial to keep a shared goal in mind.

That was the core message of a panel at British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)’s New Horizons in Safer Gambling conference in October, when operators and regulators gathered to discuss the impacts of regulating gaming on responsible gambling, using Ontario’s commercial open market as a framing.

“Although we’re competing in a lot of ways, we all benefit from having healthy players,” said Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) VP of Community, Sustainability & Social Responsibility, Catherine Meade. “We need to talk about what customer behaviours lead us to intervene and what thresholds we’re using.

“No one really benefits from passing a player from one to the next. Who benefits — and, more importantly, who’s harmed — when we do it without working together? Of course, the answer to ..

The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) and the NFL are teaming up to provide responsible gaming resources to student-athletes across Canada.

The RGC announced on Thursday a partnership with the NFL to develop and offer a comprehensive RG training program tailored to college-level athletes. The program, which will launch later this year, will have a pilot phase that provides RG resources to eight Canadian universities and colleges. During the 2025-26 academic year, the program will expand to 30 institutions using insights and feedback from this year’s training program.

“Student-athletes face unique pressures from academics, athletics and the accessibility of sports betting, making them vulnerable to risky gambling behaviours,” said new RGC CEO Sarah McCarthy, who officially replaced Shelley White this month. “Our partnership with the NFL is a crucial step in supporting this group by providing the education and tools needed to make informed decisions.”

The NFL and RGC will also work t..