August 24, 2022
Sports Interaction, the main online sportsbook and casino brand based in the sovereign First Nations territory of Kahnawake, which has served Canada since the late 1990s, has today gained its license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to operate within that province's newly regulated iGaming market.
The move today could be seen by some as an official change of tack for both the SIA brand and the Gaming Commission of Kahnawake. Prior to the decriminalisation of single-event sports betting in Canada, representatives from Kahnawake openly campaigned to stop the associated Bill C-218 from passing into law.
Bill C-218 did however pass into law on June 22, 2021. In February 2022, the parent company of Sports Interaction, Avid Gaming was acquired by global iGaming giant, Entain, for $300 million. Entain was already going to enter the Ontario sports betting market with their legal Ontario betting sites Bwin and PartyCasino brands and through its 50/50 joint venture with BetMGM.
By AGCO rules, Entain would not be able to operate these other brands in Ontario with licenses, but at the same time keep SIA serving Ontario players without the appropriate license. In other words, Entain could choose to lose the SIA Ontario players, or it could gain the Ontario license for SIA and keep its Ontario players playing.
They of course opted for the latter, in order to fully justify the price paid for Avid Gaming. Sports Interaction players that are located in other provinces and territories can continue to play at the betting site and online casino based in Kahnawake.
Read SNBET's Sports Interaction Ontario review.
Go back to SNBET's Ontario sports betting news page.
Another case in point:
— SNBET (@SNBET_ca) August 24, 2022
Sports Interaction is now a licensed ON provider.
Given bill C-218 militancy, how many expected the main Kahnawake brand to align with government & work together? @Ont_AGCO, $ENT & Kahnawake did that.
But you know, criticism.🙄
➡️https://t.co/Y1duiPx9Pl https://t.co/BWBFQV6afw