Change is afoot at BCLC, to say the least.

The lottery corporation has embarked on a comprehensive modernization drive this year to reflect the changing behaviours and intricacies of the Canadian gaming and betting market. The revamp is part of what President and CEO Pat Davis calls “a journey of digital convergence.”

Working with advisory firm SCCG Management far, that journey has encompassed some big operational shifts. In June, it completed the migration of its lottery infrastructure to a fully cloud-based lottery system powered by Intralot’s LotosX Omni ecosystem. In September, it also announced it will launch a new AI and Data Innovation Hub in collaboration with tech firm Future Anthem that aims to facilitate greater technological advancement and personalization of its offerings.

One of the biggest changes has come on the sports betting side, where BCLC has intrinsically tied together its retail and online operations.

On Sept. 4, on the eve of the sports betting bonanza that is a new NFL season, the crown corp. officially unveiled PROLINE, available as both a mobile app and website and as a new digitized retail sports betting solution. PROLINE has replaced the Sports Action sportsbook that BCLC had shut down in May after 33 years.

The transition was delayed by the lottery makeover, which BCLC’s manager of retail sports Brett Hanson tells Canadian Gaming Business gave BCLC the “most modernized lottery platform in the world.” While BCLC would have liked to have PROLINE implemented sooner, Hanson says it’s been worth the wait.

“I’m happy we got something out there before football season started,” he told CGB. “That was our big goal and we met that.”

Paper slips out, singles bets and QR codes in

What does the new PROLINE offering entail?

The first thing to know is that paper slips are a thing of the past; BCLC is the first Canadian lottery to completely scrap selection slips and move to a fully digitized betting experience. Customers can make their picks anywhere via a digital bet slip, generate a QR code on their device and scan them in the retail location using new ticket checkers and checkout screens.

“Other lottery jurisdictions in Canada do have QR code functionality but they also still have physical selection slips,” Hanson notes. “So, for us, this is kind of like ripping the band-aid off. We’re aware it’s a huge change and it’s going to take a lot of time for people to adapt to it, but we think the positives outweigh the negatives.”

“For us, this is kind of like ripping the band-aid off.”

BCLC has also taken this as an opportunity to deepen its sports betting offering.

Hanson notes that the lotto corp. previously offered around half a dozen markets: point spread, basic props and over-unders, and other traditional betting staples. For the first game of the new NFL season, it had well over 200 markets available. PROLINE now offers singles bets for the first time, dynamic odds that can be easily updated after initial posting and, broadly speaking, more like the slate of offerings you expect whenever you open up a sportsbook app.

Hanson says that BCLC tried to “mimic things as best we could” to keep a thread of continuity and not alienate traditional retail bettors, but this was a necessary move to bring the crown corp’s sportsbook product up to speed with an industry that continues to move at an almighty pace.

“It allows us to be more flexible,” he adds. “The products are seamless now. That’s a big thing for us, because we know sports bettors are playing at a bunch of different places. Now, with us being able to mirror what you’re seeing in other places, it gives them another opportunity to see us as on par with everyone else.”

Competing with grey market

That’s key context in all of this.

While BCLC has looked within to assess where and how it needs to modernize and overhaul, there is inevitably an eye on what is happening in the shadows. Like pre-regulation Ontario before it and Alberta right now, B.C.’s regulated online betting platform has to compete with unlicensed and unregulated operators in the province.

“That is not the easiest thing to do,” admits Hanson, “but we’re doing our best to try and get there. We’re hoping to eventually be fully on par with some of the other books out there. There are things, of course, that we’re not able to compete on like promotions and inducements, so we can only focus on ourselves.”

“If the market eventually opens here, we’ll be ready to compete, just like OLG was in Ontario.”

To that point, one thing BCLC can do is ensure it is providing a robust offering tailored to what British Columbian bettors want. One focus has been on offering a deep range of markets on local teams such as the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks (who have an extensive partnership with BCLC), the CFL’s BC Lions, and even nearby U.S. teams like the Seattle Seahawks.

“We’re the only legal operator in B.C. and that means we have a responsibility to ensure we’re taking care of our players in the way that B.C. players want to be taken care of,” Hanson added. By that, he’s partly referring to responsible gambling and player protection. BCLC’s market-leading GameSense RG, used by numerous casinos and online operators across North America, has been embedded throughout the PROLINE app and the new retail technology.

But Hanson also means it’s important that BCLC’s sportsbook speaks to B.C. bettors the way they want to be spoken to, offering the breadth of wagering options on local sports that the modern bettor would expect from a sportsbook in its home market. Several made-in-Ontario operators have spoken of the importance of providing that authentic local approach to compete with the big U.S. and European operators in that province’s regulated market. BCLC may be the only regulated operator in B.C., but if their offering falls short, everyone knows that bettors have other options.

“Our focus is to always provide our players with what we would want to call a best-in-class experience, no matter where they’re playing,” Hanson added. “Our PlayNow product has been at the forefront as that top-of-class offering.

“If the market eventually opens here, we’ll be ready to compete, just like OLG was in Ontario. With the new PROLINE book and where PlayNow is, we think we have a very competitive offering.”

One all-in app, retail live betting on the horizon

For now, those two platforms are separate entities. The PlayNow website and app offers a range of mobile online gaming as it has always done, while the new PROLINE platform is tied to the new retail sportsbook. PlayNow Sports has certain markets available online that are not available at retail, reflecting differences between retail and mobile betting.

One of those is live betting, which Hanson acknowledges is tough to manufacture in a retail environment because of the difficulties of implementing odds shifts and other practical conundrums. That will soon change.

In another Canadian lottery first, BCLC will soon offer in-play retail betting, facilitated by a mover to integrate PROLINE into the crown corporation’s self-service terminals (SSTs) in all of its hospitality network locations.

“The big thing about that is that on SSTs, we will have the ability to host live betting,” Hanson said. “It will work kind of like an online bet slip where users just accept odds changes and move forward. We’re hoping to launch that before the end of this year, but it could potentially come in January. We’ll be the first lottery jurisdiction in Canada to offer live betting at retail. That’s big for us and we’re excited about that. We’re hoping to launch that before the end of this year, but it could potentially come in January.”

“We’ll be the first lottery jurisdiction in Canada to offer live betting at retail.”

Hanson noted that while retail and online remain their own beasts, the lottery is now able to try out some things in a retail setting that have been successful online. He has his eyes on bringing the ubiquitously popular same-game parlay approach into shops, for example. BCLC will also test out other land-based installations in casinos and even potential sports venues like Rogers Arena. 

On the digital front, Hanson said BCLC ultimately intends to combine the Play Now and PROLINE products “all in one shop.”

“Our ideal goal is one book everywhere and I think that’s where all roads eventually will lead,” he concluded. “For now, we’re excited to be back in the market and to launch singles, which we haven’t had yet. That alone is a huge change. But this is the start for us.”