May 13, 2022
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario today announced that US gaming brand "DraftKings" was granted a license to operate its online sportsbook and casino verticals in the province. Perhaps surprisingly to some, DraftKings gained its Ontario sports betting & online casino provider license, well after the market's open, on April 4, 2022. This will make DraftKings one of over a dozen legal Ontario betting sites, in that province's new market.
Operators including 888, bet365, FanDuel, theScore Bet, Bwin, BetRivers and Unibet among others were ready to operate in Ontario in advance of this market open date. However, this late entry is not an issue for DraftKings' CEO, Jason Robbins, which seems to think that the entry date for the brand in Ontario is of little consequence given the prevalence of "grey market" brands that will be shifting their operations into the legal market.
During the company's May 6, 2022 earnings call, Robbins said: "We do not believe that the timing of our launch will have any impact on the share we are able to achieve in that province".
In order to offer its sportsbook and casino games within Ontario, DraftKings had to withdraw its popular "Daily Fantasy Sports" or "DFS" games within the province. There is no regulation surrounding DFS games in Ontario, so for now, until the AGCO starts to regulate rules around this type of gaming, DraftKings will not be able to offer it to players in the province. Their DFS games will remain available in Canada's other provinces.
Read SNBET's DraftKings Ontario review.
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The AGCO has officially licensed $DKNG in Ontario.
— SNBET (@SNBET_ca) May 13, 2022
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