Final Countdown to Ontario iGaming Launch on April 4
Ahead of Ontario’s iGaming launch, our on-the-ground Consultant Terry Debono has provided a comprehensive brief on what to expect on launch day, and issues that are still unresolved, or could be causing issues for operators/suppliers.
iDEA is already planning post-launch strategies to seek improvement to the Registrars Standards as they relate to advertising, testing and licensing. It is unlikely that there will opportunity to make changes until after the June elections.
(Update from Terry Debono)
We are in the midst of the final countdown to the April 4th launch of iGaming in Ontario.
As of this Thursday, 16 companies have received approval to be iGaming operators in Ontario. Approved does not mean they have signed their contracts, only that they are approved to be iGaming operators subject to when their contracts are signed.
There are in excess of 20 companies currently in the iGaming operator approval process – if they are all approved it will bring the total number of iGaming operators in Ontario to +36. How many additional companies will apply in the next few months is anyone’s guess?
Please note, the Monday April 4th launch date is simply the first date that any one of the approved iGaming operators can go live with their licensed iGaming product. We will not know how many operators will launch on Monday April 4th. My guess is under 5.
In my opinion, there are a number of last-minute issues in Ontario that are a concern to any iDEA members who are planning on entering Ontario as an iGaming operator or platform/game supplier
They include:
1) Can an iGaming operator who has applied for a AGCO/IGO operator licence (but not yet received it) use games/platform from a supplier who has applied for an AGCO/IGO supplier approval (but who has not received it).
2) Can an iGaming operator who has received an AGCO/IGO operator licence use games/platform from a supplier who has applied for an AGCO/IGO supplier approval (but who has not received it).
3) Can an iGaming operator who has applied for a AGCO/IGO operator licence (but not yet received it) use games/platform from a supplier who has received AGCO/IGO supplier approval.
As simple as these questions are, there is no single written answer from the AGCO/IGO.
We are being verbally told that the answer to all of the above is:
If both the iGaming operator and the supplier have applied to the AGCO/IGO for licensing/approval prior to April 4th 2022,
and if, after April 4th, 2022, the same iGaming operator and supplier do not use or provide services to companies who have not applied for AGCO/IGO licencing/approval and who operate in Ontario after April 4th,
then, the iGaming operator and supplier can continue to work with each other until they are both approved in the future by the AGCO/IGO.
If either the iGaming operator or the supplier fail to obtain future AGCO/IGO approval,
then, at the time of the license/approval being rejected, the operator or the supplier would be required to cease using the rejected company.
4) After Monday April 4th, can an iGaming operator who has applied for a AGCO/IGO operator licence (but not yet received it) continue to use .net advertising on Radio and Television until their licence is approved?
There is conflicting information surfacing regarding the use of .net advertising due to meetings that occured today between the IGO and broadcasters. I hope to have an answer on this tomorrow and I will update you as soon as possible.