Update on Ontario from Dan Walsh
As many of you know, Great Canadian Gaming (which owns 14 casinos in Ontario) sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General of Ontario arguing that they should dispense with AGCO’s approach to regulating gaming and instead go to a “tethered” market where only the five companies that own land-based casinos would be eligible for licenses for the first two years. They claim that iGaming will cannibalize casino gaming in a way that will cost the government significant revenue, and they propose that iGaming be taxed at the same rate as casino gaming (up to 70%). Here is an article.
iDEA is coordinating with the Canadian Gaming Association to respond to this. Terry DeBono is our consultant in Ontario and he is concerned that, at a minimum, this may push the Ontario launch past the elections and into the summer. It is possible that this is GCG’s real goal, to buy them time to catch up with their competitors in getting prepared for launch. It is likely that iDEA will be sending a letter to the Ontario Attorney General and Minister of Finance with our data dispelling the myth of cannibalization. We will be discussing that with the legislative committee and will post any correspondence here.