Q1 Active Player Accounts in Ontario’s iGaming Market Way Up From Previous Year

Ontario’s regulated iGaming market is in year three. A lot has changed over the last couple of years when it comes to sports betting in Ontario, with new operators and rules. Ontarians can get a sense of how the market is performing thanks to iGaming Ontario’s market performance reports.

Ontario almost reaches two million active player accounts in Q1

On Wednesday iGaming Ontario revealed, in their Q1 market performance report, nearly 1.9 million player accounts were active during Q1 of 2024, from April 1 to June 30. 1.9 million is a huge leap from the previous year. In Q1 of 2023, also from April 1 to June 30, iGaming Ontario reported roughly 920k player accounts were active. “With 50 regulated Operators and a one-third increase in wagering and revenue figures over the first quarter of last year, Ontarians who choose to gamble are finding many enjoyable options in our open regulated igaming market,” executive director Martha Otton said. After the launch of Ontario’s iGaming market in April of 2022, Ontario almost reached two million active player accounts in Q1 for 2024-2025, perhaps good news for the betting sites.

The average monthly spend per active account is also up from Q1 last year. Last year, the average monthly spend was $197 in Q1. This year the average monthly spend is $284 in Q1. These numbers don’t reveal everything. “Active player accounts are accounts with cash and/or promotional wagering activity during the time period and do not represent unique players as individuals may have accounts with multiple Operators.” In Q1 there “were 50 Operators with 80 gaming websites with gaming activity.”

Betting, casino, and peer-to-peer poker data

Of the $18.4 billion wagered in Q1, $2.5 billion was wagered on betting. Betting revenue was $181 million. Betting data includes sports, esports, proposition, novelty bets, and exchange betting. Unlike active player accounts, betting wagers and revenue are somewhat similar to the 2023 numbers. Q1 2023 had $2 billion in wagers and $138 million in revenue. Wagers and revenue for the casino also went up. Peer-to-peer poker is the only area that had a decline in both areas from Q4 2023-2024. While casino wagers rose by roughly $900 million and revenue rose by 19 million, P2P poker wagers fell by $44 million and revenue fell by $3 million.

Based on the data, Ontario’s iGaming market has shown consistent growth only in the casino. “Casino games, including slots, live and computer-based table games and peer-to-peer bingo, accounted for nearly $15.5 billion (84%) of total wagers and $529 million (73%) of gaming revenue.” The numbers in the report are “unaudited and subject to adjustment.” Betting wagers and revenue have been up and down over the past year. Betting wagers have been lower every quarter since Q3 2023-2024. P2P poker wagers and revenue increased slightly every quarter in 2023-2024, but this year’s Q1 numbers are lower than the 2023-2024 Q4 numbers. P2P poker wagers in Q1 were lower than in Q3 and Q4 of 2023-2024. But were higher than Q1 of last year by about $52 million.

iGaming Ontario’s quarterly market performance reports

Quarterly reports are released by iGaming Ontario every year for the Ontario iGaming Market. The first report was released on Wednesday. Q2 will cover from July 1 to September 30 and should be released later this year. These reports help provide some insight into Ontario’s iGaming market, from the number of operators and gaming websites to revenue numbers and money wagered. A report is also released for the entire fiscal year. 

Here is a statement from Otton about the Ontario market before the 2024-2025 Q1 report was released. “With $63 billion in wagering and $2.4 billion in gaming revenue, the second year of Ontario’s iGaming market is more than 70% bigger than the first,” Otton said. “As the market matures into its third year, I look forward to building on this foundation of success with operators and other partners as they invest in Ontario so that Ontarians can continue to play with confidence.”