Betway gets Ontario license for new iGaming market

Canada's Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on Tuesday, April 19, issued a license for Betway to operate in the newly regulated online gambling market. It will expire in two years’ time, on April 18, 2024.

The licence covers Betway.ca and various related dedicated domain names for sports, esports, virtual sports, casino, live casino, among others.

The regulator said Betway represented the 30th operator licence award since the regulated market opened. The number of registered operators as of April 1 was 25, with bet365, FanDuel, BetMGM, Rivalry, theScore, BetRivers, 888, PointsBet, Unibet, among others, having secured licences on launch day, April 4. Most of the licences will run for 12 months, with only 10 of them running for two years.

According to a recent report issued by Morgan Stanley, which scrutinized bettors’ most downloaded betting apps since the market went live, theScore betting app has taken a "very strong lead”, as the brand’s app accounted for 50% of overall sports betting downloads. Bet365 received the second-most downloads at 36%, according to Morgan Stanley, followed by Betway with 5%, even before securing a licence. BetMGM and BetRivers each had a 3% share.

Even though downloads do not necessarily mean customers are spending their money on that app, the report offers an early glimpse of the projections for the market and the competition among operators in a jurisdiction that is expected to generate nearly a billion dollars in gross revenue in its first year. 

In 2021, the Betway brand and Spin launched in nine new regulated markets. International launches included France and Tanzania for Betway, and Mexico for Spin. North America was Betway parent company Super Group’s biggest market in 2021, representing 45% of turnover. Last week, Super Group reported 2021 revenue up 45% to €1.32 billion ($1.43B) in a year-over-year comparison. Via a business combination with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corporation (SEAH), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Super Group began trading as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 28.