Ontario’s wide range of regulated online sportsbook options has customers looking for trusted brand names and strong loyalty programs more than players in other countries.

Those are some of the conclusions that can be drawn from industry payment provider Paysafe, which surveyed thousands of players’ preferences from around the world and detailed the results in a recent report titled All The Way Players Pay.

The report was based on an online survey conducted on behalf of Paysafe by Sapio Research among 4,300 active or prospective sports bettors, including 300 in Ontario.

Ontario sports bettors open-minded but value reputation

One key finding was that Ontarians are less likely to be committed to a particular sportsbook compared to bettors in other countries.

Asked whether they have a preferred online sportsbook, just over half (52%) of Ontario respondents selected yes, lower than all but one of the 11 countries and all six states surveyed. That was 3% lower than the global average and far below similarly young U.S. markets like New York (63%), which went live in H1 2022 like Ontario.

It’s not particularly surprising given that Ontario has more choice of regulated online sportsbooks that any state and some countries. As of the time of writing, the iGaming Ontario (iGO) website lists 33 licensed operators offering online sports betting, in addition to Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

Paysafe also asked bettors for their most important factors when choosing one sportsbook above others. More Ontario respondents (40%) cited a brand’s trustworthiness as a reason for making a decision than any other factor. That rate was beaten only by Colombia (42%) and the Ontario rate was 7% higher than the global average.

Again, you could argue that this speaks to the saturation of the Ontario market; when there are more regulated options than a bettor can count, name value and reputation become more important than if the options were slimmer.

In comparison, across the global market and in the U.S., bettors ranked payouts as more important that a trusted brand. So, unlike other markets’ bettors, Ontarians value trustworthiness more than getting paid immediately.

Smooth payments can be a differentiator

But the data suggests that Ontario bettors still do value an easy payments process.

The second-most popular choice as a factor in Ontario bettors choosing a sportsbook was quick and easy payouts (35%).

Ontarians cited quick and easy deposits, the ability to use their preferred payment method and good odds among the other factors that would most influence their decision.

As for what those preferred payment methods are, in Ontario, the most popular is debit card (40%). While credit cards are traditionally king in Canadian eCommerce, they are the third choice for Ontarians betting on sports online (32%). Still, Ontario is far above the global benchmark for credit card usage in online sports betting (24%) and is actually second only to France (39%).

Canadians also use digital wallet (34%) and direct bank transfer (24%), and 14% of players favour local payment methods such as Interac e-Transfer.

Loyalty programs helps sportsbooks stand out

Interestingly, good promotional offers was a bigger factor in Ontario (27%) than the average (24%), despite the fact that sportsbooks in province are forbidden from marketing sign-up bonuses and inducements. Word clearly gets around about which sportsbooks are offering what.

When it comes to what keeps them engaged with sportsbooks once they have signed up, Ontarians value loyalty programs more than the average consumer, with over 38% of Ontario respondents naming loyalty programs as one of their top three most desired additional sportsbook features. The global average for the response was 33%. The result suggests that in a crowded market, long-term rewards and incentivization is important.