As Alberta prepares for a major shift in its Sports Betting landscape, the Canadian Gaming Association’s CEO, Paul Burns, says their old system was shrouded in naivety.
“Because of the large unregulated iGaming market presence in Canada, no one’s had a monopoly for 25 years and that’s the reality,” Burns said in an interview with GGB magazine last month.
Alberta’s monopoly system, expected to be replaced in short order with a regulated market of competitors, ultimately proved unable to compete with models such as those in Ontario sports betting, whose regulated market has proven to be one of North America’s premier regions for Sports Betting and iGaming.
Burns, as such, is continuing to push for all provinces, such as those in British Columbia and Quebec, to follow Alberta’s lead and move away from their monopoly frameworks.
“There’s this whole discussion going on around sweepstakes and predictive markets in North America, [but] the next thing is already here, and there’s more coming,” Burns told GGB Magazine. “As a regulator, there’s no time to pause anymore.”
Ontario a Model for Success
Pointing to Ontario’s success, Burns shared that it would be wise for other provinces to examine Ontario’s impressive channelization rates — otherwise known as the rate at which iGaming occurs at regulated retailers — with some figures estimating as high as 93% of bets under the regulated umbrella.
“One of the things Ontario did [well] was build a market that invited the grey market operators and made it advantageous [for them to join]," Burns relayed, noting he expects Alberta to follow suit. “Ontario set a good bar, but we’re asking them to improve on that regulatory regime.”
Notably, in comparison to Ontario’s 90%+ rate, PlayAlberta, the only regulated gambling platform in the province, compares with a pedestrian 20% of the market, as other unregulated operators suck up huge swaths of business in the region.
“Alberta is clearly leading with strong measures of consumer protection,” Burns noted. “It’s this balance of being prepared to invest heavily in protecting your market and making it advantageous for people to join the regulated market.”
What Works Better?
It’s clear from the figures laid out that the current system of regulated monopolized iGaming options in provinces such as Alberta is not working given the dramatic figures presented, however, it’s perhaps not so simple.
Notably, the Canadian Gaming Association itself represents a host of local operators in Canada, as listed directly on their website. It stands to reason that Burns would advocate on their behalf to help them enter regions they’re currently locked out of.
While it isn’t clear exactly what the correct solution is, there’s certainly a middle ground that provinces will have to find as they aim to balance keeping gambling safe while also ensuring that unregulated black and grey market operators don’t take up huge swaths of the Canadian online casino user base just as things currently stand.
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