As Ontario’s regulated online gaming market has grown quarter after quarter, many have sugested the market reports have been too few and far between. iGaming Ontario (iGO) have changed that.

The conduct-and-manage entity has started sharing its market performance reports every month, rather than just once a quarter. A snapshot of total handle, gross gaming revenue (GGR) and other key metrics for the last 13 months on a rolling basis is available via the iGO website.

iGO told Canadian Gaming Business on Thursday that the change in reporting “is the result of our decision to be more transparent by sharing aggregate revenue and market insight figures more frequently, and in a format that is easier to ingest and analyze.”

The agency told CGB it has no plans at this time to break data down by operatorm which is not surprising given that the saturated market hosts 50 operators across 83 websites as of Dec. 31. The newest entrants include Aristocrat Interactive white-labeled brand Betiton, which launched in December. More will follow, as more than 20 pending operator applications are waiting.

The reporting revision comes as iGO strikes out as a fully independent and standalone board-governed agency. Ontario’s 2024 fall budget measures included Schedule 9 to enact the iGaming Ontario Act, which severs the tie between iGO and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

A spokesperson from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General told CGB late last year that the change was made in part to address a concern of a conflict of interest raised by the Auditor General. The Act will be proclaimed in early 2025, said the spokesperson, but that has not happened as of the time of writing.

Ontario online casino growth pattern continues

As for the numbers in iGO’s new report for the quarter up to Dec. 31, 2024, the market’s booming growth continues apace.

Ontario gamblers spent $22.7 billion online during Q3 of the Canadian fiscal year, the highest amount on record. That total handle across all kinds of online gaming was 32% higher than it was from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, and up 22% on the previous quarter of the 2023-24 FY.

Overall GGR sat at $826 million, up 26% year over year and 12% month over month. Again, this makes it the best quarter on record for Ontario’s regulated market, which is approaching its third anniversary.

As we’ve seen since the market opened in April 2022, online casino dwarfs sports betting and other digital gaming. Of the $22.7 billion total quarterly spend, $18.9 billion (83%) was on online casino games, up 38% on the previous year. Online casino revenue was up 37% to $644 million, roughly 78% of total GGR.

iGaming’s percentage share in handle was down slightly from last quarter’s 86%, but its GGR share was up from 75%.

Sports betting, which includes esports wagering in Ontario, suffered a 6% annual drop in revenue to $16 million despite a 10% handle increase to $3.4 billion. Sports wagers made up 15% of total bets and 20% of total GGR in the quarter.

The remaining $418 million of the $22.7 billion online gaming handle was bet on peer-to-peer poker, a 3% drop. That vertical could be in for a dramatic change if the Ontario Court of Appeal rules in favour of the province by deeming international P2P play legal.

December the best month on (the new) record

The new monthly breakdown tells us that December was the busiest online gambling month on record in Ontario, with an all-time high $7.8 billion in handle eclipsing the previous record set the month before in November by 4%. Handle was up 28% from December 2023.

However, November 2024’s $291 million in revenue remains the mark to beat. December’s GGR was $269 million, down 10%.

Ontario appears to have suffered from the same “customer-friendly” sports outcomes that have affected numerous U.S. states in December. Sports wagering handle climbed 9% to $1.1 billion but GGR was down 28% to $39 million

In contrast, online casino set monthly records of $6.5 billion in handle and $224 million in revenue, up 33% and 36% from December 2023.

iGO’s reporting data does not include online gaming on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) platform. OLG reports separately and only annually.