PlayNow.com generated $31.8m from wagering in Saskatchewan across November and December 2022, heavily propped up by its online casino division.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) brand went live in the Canadian province on Nov 3, following a previously agreed deal struck with the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and SaskGaming.

SIGA has now provided an update on the platform’s progress in the province, publishing figures from its first two months of trading.

As reported by Canadian news outlet CBC, $14.8m was wagered in November and $17m in December.

The site had 8,015 registered users by the end of December, meaning that for every registered user, as of Dec 31, PlayNow.com received an average of $3,967 in wagers over its first two months.

Removing the winnings that were bet again, as well as promos, bonuses and free bets, this figure dropped down to $462. The average deposit of registered users’ own money over November and December was $67. After winnings were paid out, the platform made $1.6m.

“A lot of our players, when it’s a small amount, $50, $75, they’re just going to keep cycling that money through the system and it just gets bet again,” said SIGA’s Director of igaming Michael Bellegarde.

“Typically, people cash out when they have a substantial win.”

Under a 2021 agreement, half of the revenue generated from the website goes to First Nations communities and the other half to the Saskatchewan government.

“We’re quite pleased,” Bellegarde added. “We weren’t exactly sure what to expect, being a new product to the province. So we’re very happy.”

The platform’s online casino division proved to be its most profitable – by a considerable margin – with $30.6m wagered. By contrast, just $1.2m was wagered on sports.

“One of the things that surprised me a little bit is that sports is not as big of a driver for net win as the slot machines,” noted Bellegarde.

“When you see all the money that’s being invested by other companies into sports advertising, you would think that there’s a lot of money there.

“The reality is that sports [betting] makes up less than 5% of our net win.”

Paul Burns, President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, further lauded the “tremendous success” of PlayNow.com and hailed its first two months in Saskatchewan as a “great start”.