Each Thursday, Sports Handle recaps all the top sports betting news in Canada, highlights the event of the week, and takes a look ahead at some of the most intriguing games to bet on over the weekend.
Our top Canadian sports stories this week
- Pinnacle Launches In Ontario’s Regulated iGaming Market As Transition Deadline Nears
- NHL Prop Wagering Q&A: Best Sportsbooks, Finding Edges, Tips For Newbies
- Legal Online Gaming, Sports Betting To Launch In Saskatchewan On Nov. 3
Game of the week
World Series — Game 1
Who would’ve predicted that the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros would be squaring off in this year’s World Series?
Well, one bettor at BetMGM in Colorado placed a $50 bet on the Astros to beat the Phillies in the World Series at 2500/1 odds back in April. The bet would pay out $125,000 if Houston is victorious.
The Astros are a perfect 7-0 this postseason after sweeping the Seattle Mariners in the American League Division Series and the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. This will be the fourth time Houston, which is a huge -188 series favorite at BetMGM, has reached the Fall Classic in the past six years.
Canada’s Rob Thomson — who hails from Sarnia, Ontario — has led the Phillies on an improbable run to the World Series. He took over as manager of a struggling club that was under. 500 in June, and the team responded by racking up wins in the second half of the regular season, claiming the final playoff spot in the National League and then winning three playoff rounds.
Philadelphia (+140) will send righty Aaron Nola to the hill in Game 1 on Friday night, and the Astros (-166) haven’t yet confirmed their starting pitcher for the series opener, although it’s widely expected veteran Justin Verlander will get the ball. The over/under for runs scored is set at 6.5.
Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has the shortest odds to win World Series MVP at +600, followed by Bryce Harper (+700).
Bryce Harper has moved from +4000 to +700 to win World Series MVP.
27% of bets (most) and 28% of money (most) is on Harper at @BetMGM pic.twitter.com/g7e2tin6d7
— John Ewing 🦁 (@johnewing) October 27, 2022
PointsBet’s Ontario Insights
PointsBet‘s latest investor presentation for the period ending Sept. 30 included some interesting insights regarding its performance in Ontario.
Ontario’s regulators have sidestepped questions from the media regarding what the tax rate actually is in Ontario for operators, but it was believed to be “around 20%” of gross revenue. Apparently, there are some deductions operators can make to slash that rate to 18%.
Several other key metrics were also revealed during the presentation:
PointsBet was one of the first operators to launch in Ontario on April 4, and live betting represented 59% of its total Ontario sportsbook handle in Q1 FY23. According to the latest revenue report from iGaming Ontario, Ontarians wagered $6 billion and the market produced $267 million in total gaming revenue for the period of July 1-Sept. 30.
Currently, PointsBet is only operating in the province of Ontario in Canada.
Gaming commission’s discussion paper
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) issued a discussion paper this week and is seeking stakeholder feedback on potential regulatory risks associated with promotional partnerships.
This paper is meant to gather input on the possibility of the AGCO taking regulatory action to prohibit the
creation of any physical venue (temporary or permanent) where a purpose of the location is to encourage and/or facilitate the placing of bets.
Regulators posed the following questions to stakeholders:
- What types of promotional or other offline activities, which fall short of creating a traditional land-based gaming site, do you think may be of concern or create risks? What risks might these promotional or other activities create?
- What facts, context, and considerations should the AGCO be aware of when considering these risks?
- What mitigating actions would you suggest the Registrar consider to address relevant risks?
With the launch of retail casino sports betting on the horizon in Ontario, it appears as though the AGCO wants feedback on the possibility of food/beverage establishments (outside of casinos) doing deals with sportsbook operators. Industry stakeholders can provide their input on the AGCO Engagement Portal and the deadline to submit feedback has been extended to Nov. 7.
Several new operators obtained iGaming licenses from the AGCO this past week, including: Ngame N.V. (spinaway.ca), Rootz Ltd. (wildz.com), Mansion Ontario Holdings Ltd. (casino.com, mansioncasino.com), Mobile Incorporated Ltd. (conquestador.com), and Videoslots Ltd. (mrvegas.com, videoslots.com).
The AGCO recently grabbed headlines for winning an international award for its rollout of the Ontario market.
Protecting consumers with the highest gaming standards. 🎰
Recently, the @Ont_AGCO was recognized with the @iagr_org Regulatory Excellence Award.
I'm proud to have delivered Ontarians more choice in the gaming market — establishing high standards & game integrity for players. pic.twitter.com/7Sdp0eGY0b
— Doug Downey (@douglasdowney) October 20, 2022
Game+ network launches soccer series
Canadian specialty channel Game+, which produces sports wagering, fantasy sports, and niche sports content, announced on Tuesday that it had partnered with Parleh Media Group’s Room 4-4-2 soccer show.
Room 4-4-2 can currently be seen every Monday through Friday on Game+, starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. On-demand viewing of the show is also available at Room442.com. The show is headlined by longtime soccer analyst James Sharman, formerly of theScore, and soccer writer Michael Singh.
“Interest in soccer by Canadians is at its highest level of engagement ever,” said Sharman, a leading soccer voice in Canadian sports media for 25 years, in the release. “There’s a huge appetite for soccer coverage in this country right now, whether we’re talking about the Saturday schedule of Premier League matches, the march to the Champions League title, or Canada returning to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in more than three decades when they compete in Qatar next month.”
Excited to get @TheRoom442 in front of more eyeballs across Canada. Just more evidence that slowly but surely 🇨🇦 is embracing ⚽️ Told ya so!https://t.co/E1dgtXDqfL
— James Sharman (@jamessharman) October 25, 2022
Many new Ontario operators, such as Pinnacle and Betano, are banking on the World Cup being a wildly popular betting event in the province.
Rourke returns to bolster Lions for playoff run
We haven’t seen the last of Nathan Rourke this season.
Some major news out of the CFL broke on Thursday: The BC Lions quarterback will play in the team’s regular-season finale against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night.
Rourke, who hails from British Columbia, set the CFL on fire through the first 11 weeks of the season before injuring his foot and requiring surgery. The team feared Rourke, who threw for an incredible 3,281 yards and 25 touchdowns through nine games, would be lost for the season when he sustained the injury, but he now appears healthy for the playoffs.
The Lions will host the Calgary Stampeders in the Western semi-final on Nov. 6.
BC’s Grey Cup futures odds were as short as +200 prior to Rourke’s injury, but they lengthened to around +500 at most sportsbooks in the weeks after he underwent surgery. Now, books appear to be settling in the middle on the Lions, with the Blue Bombers still the outright favorites at around +115.
Nathan. Rourke. Returns. 🦁
The BC Lions are +380 to win the Grey Cup on @FanDuelCanada as we enter the final week of the CFL regular season 👀 pic.twitter.com/7N41YHMDzi
— TSN EDGE (@TSN_Edge) October 27, 2022
