Just days after launching a revamped retail platform, PROLINE is getting some negative reviews from its Ontario retail customers.
PROLINE customers are complaining about discrepancies between the odds being offered online and in-store, technical issues with creating bet slips online that aren’t scanning properly at retail locations, and stores having issues printing game lists.
A quick search of PROLINE and PROLINE+ on Twitter reveals a plethora of unhappy customers, and some of them have reached out to Sports Handle with their concerns.
Twitter user @sharpedgepicks recently placed a bet at a PROLINE retail location in Toronto on the Maple Leafs to win straight up over the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 7, and noticed a payout difference after double-checking the odds online. Bettors wagering Leafs moneyline using the PROLINE + online platform would earn $10 more on a payout than if they placed a $100 bet at a retail location.
Leafs pay 5% more online v store! pic.twitter.com/SvECgThu26
— sharp edge picks (@sharpedgepicks) February 2, 2022
Sports Handle asked the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which is run by the provincial government and offers the only current legal sports betting option there through PROLINE and PROLINE +, about the discrepancies between online and retail odds.
“Like many businesses that offer retail and online services, the customer benefits can differ slightly, and that’s the same for PROLINE at retail and PROLINE+,” said Tony Bitonti, director of external communications for OLG, in an email. “Odds of winning for certain sports wagers may be slightly higher online on PROLINE+; we recommend to our customers to watch HOW TO PLAY videos for an understanding of how odds work. The slightly higher odds of winning on PROLINE+ are made possible because of the broad range of games and wagering options available to play online after setting up a registered customer account.”
Other complaints
Prior to the launch of PROLINE + and the legalization of single-game wagering in Canada last August , PROLINE bettors were forced to wager only on parlays. Retailers print off PROLINE game slip odds and place them on a kiosk for bettors to review, and then fill out their betting slips. Issues with stores printing game slip odds have been a complaint this week.
“My store said they couldn’t print the game lists and we had to see them online,” said a tweet from @Mc1Dave to OLG. “Five customers complaining while I was in there. The website is ridiculous … spent years defending PROLINE for its simplicity.
“I like the new PROLINE, but I don’t like the fact that I have to ask my retailer to print five different soccer lists. Please make it one soccer list,” PROLINE bettor Bojan Budisavljevic said in an email to Sports Handle.
The overall feedback from PROLINE bettors is that some of the new offerings are great, but navigating the new slips and website are initially confusing.
“U guys really ruined proline. Great that there are some more options. But wayyy too complicated,” tweeted @torontoburner to OLG.
PROLINE + readying for competition
With the impending launch of Ontario’s regulated iGaming market on April 4, PROLINE will lose its monopoly on the sports betting market in the province once dozens of private operators begin competing for the sports betting dollars of Ontarians. PROLINE + has recently expanded its offerings to include game props and is promoting up to a $500 signup bonus ahead of the Super Bowl.
“Sports betting at one of our nearly 10,000 retail locations has been greatly improved with our new PROLINE offering — more competitive than ever. Overall odds are now dynamic to reflect the latest changes before events begin,” Bitonti added.
PROLINE retailers get a commission on the sale of all lottery and sport products, and also when those tickets are redeemed at their respective stores.
“OLG is proud to say that its standard blended retailer commission rate is the highest in Canada. In the last fiscal year, OLG provided $330 million in total retail commissions for more than 5,300 retail owners — big and small,” Bitonti noted.
All of OLG’s profits are reinvested in the province through the Ontario government.
