DraftKings Plans to Launch Sportsbook in Ontario by the End of June
DraftKings Sportsbook could soon be a part of Ontario sports betting.
The company announced that it plans to launch its sportsbook in Ontario in the second quarter, which would mean anytime between now and the end of June.
Speaking during Friday’s earnings call, DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins said he expects to launch in Ontario “in the near future.” Operators are required to receive approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) before they can launch their products and start taking wagers.
Ontario’s Sports Betting Market
Ontario launched its new online sports betting and iGaming markets on April 4. According to Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns, 30 operators applied for licenses in the province, with 13 approved to start taking bets on launch day.
FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, theScore, bet365 and PointsBet were some of the more well-known operators to go live. But of the popular brands to launch, DraftKings’ absence was noticeable.
Up until Friday, the only official word from DraftKings came from a spokesperson who told Lou Monaco of Gambling.com the company was “working closely with regulators to bring our top-rated mobile sportsbook and casino products to Ontario as soon as possible.”
DraftKings Overview
DraftKings mentioned during the call that its online sportsbook is active in 17 states and is live with its iGaming platform in five states.
The next targeted launch states for the company are Ohio and Maryland with a potential future release in California in 2023.
A ballot measure backed by DraftKings and other sportsbooks received enough signatures to make the ballot and will go to voters this fall.
DraftKings reported a net loss of $467.7 million for the first quarter, despite revenue of $417.2 million for the first three months. The 2022 first quarter revenue was 34% more than the same span during 2021.
During the first quarter, DraftKings saw a 29% increase of the number of unique paying customers compared to the 2021 first quarter.
“DraftKings delivered significant growth across our key revenue and performance metrics,” Robins said in an earnings release. “We are not seeing any impact from inflationary pressures on customer demand, and we continue to improve the user experience by adding breadth and depth to our daily fantasy sports, mobile sports betting and iGaming products. We are also improving our efficiency in acquiring and retaining customers and have a strong pipeline of new jurisdictions to enter.”
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