There’s a reason why, in 2021, the federal government used Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario as the spot to announce when the decriminalization of single-game sports betting in Canada would take effect.
Freeing Canadians from their parlay-heavy form of legal sports wagering was, among other things, framed as a shot in the arm for a brick-and-mortar gambling industry trying to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Single event sport betting is a multi-billion dollar industry and its legalization will add to our economy, create jobs, and boost tourism,” Member of Parliament Chris Bittle said in an August 2021 press release.
So, has Canada become a tourism hot spot for people dying to make a straight bet at a brick-and-mortar sportsbook? I’m not so sure.
Happy to be in the Niagara area, where I grew up, to make a great announcement with @Chris_Bittle and @VBadawey. Single sport betting will be completely legal as of August 27th. All Canadians will benefit from safe and responsible gambling and the profits that come with it. pic.twitter.com/AShpKGoUeP
— David Lametti (@DavidLametti) August 12, 2021
For starters, has Canada opened any Las Vegas-like sportsbooks? What I’ve seen in Ontario you could call a good start, but not necessarily settings that would get me to pack a bag or get on a plane. Ontario sports betting, as in other jurisdictions, remains predominantly an online thing.
Some evidence suggests the same, such as Statistics Canada reporting in September that overall tourism spending is still below pre-pandemic levels. Tourist spending on "recreation and entertainment" is flat compared to pre-pandemic times as well.
We also have the words of the Ontario government that suggest they are looking for something more out of one of the crown jewels of the province’s land-based gambling landscape, Niagara Falls.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said his government wants to “modernize” the area and is in talks with the operator of the two Niagara casinos, the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, to try to make it happen.
Yes, minister
Speaking to a legislative committee in Toronto in October, Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho said the provincial government is looking at "creating the conditions for the private sector in [the] Niagara region to robustly build this place to what it can be."
Gambling is part of the Ontario government’s plans, but likely still a significant part. Ford noted the “monopoly” Mohegan has over the area at the moment. More competition is a possibility, according to The Trillium.
“Right now, if you ask people, when you go to Niagara Falls, ‘How long are you staying there?’– it might be a three-hour trip, it might be a one-night trip; it’s not that four-night, five-night trip yet,” Cho told the committee. “And while it has so many great pieces, it’s missing those pieces that our government needs to focus on. What am I talking about? I’m talking about infrastructure.”
One of the pieces of infrastructure Cho said they are “asking for desperately” in the Niagara area is an international airport.
Something I’m desperately asking for is a world-class sportsbook.
Fallsview has a sports “lounge” with betting kiosks, recliners, and a dining space. I’m on the record as saying it was “not bad” after a trip there around this time last year. I haven’t been back since.
Moreover, what I’ve seen from other casinos in Ontario ranges from bad to fine. “Not bad” seems like a pretty fair descriptor overall.
Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ont. announced last week it opened a new sports lounge, complete with Kambi-powered betting kiosks. Naturally, I had to investigate (for purely journalistic purposes). Not bad! pic.twitter.com/OTBtpXrlWq
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) December 2, 2023
That could be by design. My colleague Ryan Butler reported on an interesting panel at the Global Gaming Expo in October that suggested the gambling industry is moving away from big investments in retail sportsbooks and their lower margins.
Real estate occupied by comfy seats and counters could instead be used for more slots, more table games, and so forth. In Windsor, Ontario, Caesars has reportedly cut back the hours for staff at its sportsbook.
Prioritizing other forms of brick-and-mortar gambling over sports betting makes even more sense when you consider the popularity of online sports betting. It’s become easier to bet on sports than ever in Canada and the United States. There’s no need to drive to a physical book in a Canadian province or 30 U.S. states when you can just whip up a 10-leg same-game parlay from your couch.
Layer on top of all of this the robust “grey” market that existed and continues to exist in Canada for online gambling. People were betting on sports and hitting the digital tables for a long time before the federal government decriminalized single-game wagering in 2021 and Ontario launched its competitive iGaming market in 2022. Some Canadians are still betting using grey-market sites.
All of this is to say that Ontarians (and likely Canadians more broadly) like to gamble. They really like online gambling. They’ve been doing it for a long time. What they haven’t been doing is kicking back in a Vegas-quality sportsbook and placing bets, which was a possibility that was at least partly suggested by the messaging around single-game sports betting.
Do it for me (also, others)
When Ontario launched its competitive iGaming market, it was a big day for legal sports betting in Canada. But it didn’t really change things for the average bettor in the province. Many people just logged on to their sportsbook app, filled out some forms, uploaded some identification, and then kept playing with the operator they were already using. They then went and signed up for additional sportsbook apps.
In 2022, we heard complaints from people who struggled with the registration process. I also heard from people who were surprised by the shutdown of paid daily fantasy contests and the loss of horse racing on their online sportsbooks. Lastly, from a few folks, I heard a “so what?” and questions about when Ontario would open up its own Circa or SuperBook.
That, to me, is a big opportunity for Ontario, and possibly in Niagara Falls. I think a bigger, better Niagara Falls should include a sportsbook so grand it compels Ontario’s army of online sports bettors to put down their phones and make a pilgrimage to the region.
And I’ll be honest with you: I personally would love a great sportsbook in Niagara Falls (and maybe a nice racebook for horseplayers as well), because I would drive there and spend the day. I’m probably not alone in saying that but I’ll fully disclose my selfishness here.
It will take some doing, though. Ontario’s brick-and-mortar gambling scene is complicated somewhat by Canadian law. For example, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is the entity legally responsible for the province's casinos, but they are run by private-sector entities like Mohegan.
Catch this year's Football Draft picks in Caesars Sportsbook, The House Sports Lounge or Legends Sports Bar - kicking off Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April 27. pic.twitter.com/NeZQ2HMri6
— Caesars Windsor (@CaesarsWindsor) April 13, 2024
As the province’s auditor general revisited in a report released this week, OLG accepted “significantly reduced revenue commitments” from some casino operators even though the company already had signed contracts with those companies. Additionally, OLG’s contracts did not hold casino operators to the capital investments they had proposed in their bids to run the facilities.
The auditor’s 2022 report on OLG (which this week’s report was following up on) also said the company chose Mohegan to run the Niagara casinos despite the company proposing “the least amount of capital investment” among bidders.
The watchdog spoke with officials from the City of Niagara Falls and was told they would have preferred “an operator willing to make the greatest non-gaming capital investments to increase tourism to the region.”
OLG has since made changes, including updating a "Business Case Template" that it uses to judge proposals from private-sector casino companies.
“Going forward, OLG told us that it plans to incorporate capital commitments in any new agreements with casino operators,” the auditor general’s office said in this week’s report.
I include the above to show the interest and ability Ontario has in making its brick-and-mortar scene even better. Niagara presents an opportunity to execute on that.
If Canada and Ontario want to be true to one of the original reasons for legalizing single-game sports betting, we need, for lack of a better phrase, an absolutely sick sportsbook. Maybe it’s not practical or profitable, but it would be keeping a promise that was made more than three years ago.
And, yes, I’m totally biased in saying that.
