The latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show is one of the breaking news variety.

On the eve of next week’s Kioti National in St. John’s, the Grand Slam of Curling getting together with ALT Sports Data on a multi-layered partnership highlighted by growth and innovation around making the sport more wagering-friendly and also supporting the CGOS’ efforts to grow curling internationally.

"Our partnership with ALT Sports Data will open up a new world of engagement for curling fans; where real-time insights, advanced analytics, and seamless betting experiences come together to help elevate the sport,” Nic Sulsky, the co-founder and CEO of The Curling Group, which acquired the series from Sportsnet in April, said in a media dispatch. “As the popularity of curling continues to rise internationally, our collaboration with ALT Sports Data will allow us to enhance the fan experience while unlocking new growth opportunities within untapped markets.”

Sulsky and Michael Jordan, the co-founder and head of product for ALT Sports Data, joined us on the podcast to dig a little deeper into the details of the partnership – which has a betting element. The California-based business has a rather lengthy list of partnerships with non-traditional sports organizations, including the World Surf League, the Disc Golf Pro Tour and Power Slap while providing data to many of the biggest brands in sports betting. The deal with the CGOS includes ALT Sports Data becoming the exclusive global partner of data for sports betting worldwide.

We spoke with Sulsky, who left his post as chief commercial officer of PointsBet Canada to co-found The Curling Group, about the changes that have already taken place under the GCOS’s new ownership, the growth of the series’ streaming audience, and the appetite by the curlers and their coaches for advanced analytics.

Sulsky, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgins Lymphoma in 2009, will be on The Rock next week and will don his road gear once again to run and raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Curl for Cancer campaign.

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There’s been a renewed flurry of media coverage lately around the legal gambling industry in the true north, strong and free, including:

· An editorial by The Globe and Mail calling on the Justin Trudeau government to pass Bill S-269 before our elected federal officials head home for the holidays:

· An interview by Matt Galloway of CBC’s The Current with a problem gambler in the aftermath of a study released by the Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling;

· A St. Albert Gazette piece on the relationship between igaming, advertising and problem gambling;

· And just yesterday, this “Is the $11 billion online sportsbook bubble about to burst?” tome from the keyboard of David Hill for Rolling Stone.

At the same time, the Canadian Gaming Association just made public research it commissioned North American advertising intelligence company MediaRadar to conduct on advertising by operators in Ontario’s regulated market. The research shows a decrease in the amount of advertising spend by operators of online sports betting and gaming products since the province’s market opened its doors in April 2022.

Paul Burns, the CGA’s president and CEO, returned to the Gaming News Canada Show to discuss the latest research, and also respond to the latest coverage by the Globe and CBC (the CGA also posted a response on LinkedIn to the Globe editorial). Burns also addressed the efforts the industry have made around responsible gambling while yet again emphasizing the operators’ multi-layered actions to keep children from accessing their products. He also spoke about the challenges in front of advocates of Bill S-269 to have a national framework for sports betting advertising to take effect.

He also spoke about the recent Royal Assent given by the Douglas Ford government to the iGaming Ontario Act, which will separate iGO from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. We also asked Burns for his thoughts on what background and skill set the iGO board of directors and its recruiting firm should be seeking in the president and CEO who will replace Martha Otton when the woman responsible for leading the charge to opening the Ontario market in the spring of 2022 retires at year’s end.

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The latest financial results released over the past week or so by the likes of Sportradar, Genius Sports, DraftKings,theScore Bet and Flutter Entertainment all refer to the continued increase in activity by sports bettors when it comes to in-play/live wagering.

From Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke, in his prepared statements in a call with analysts when the data/technology/broadcast giants put forth its Q3 2024 financials on Tuesday: “In-play wagering now represents 30% of total NFL handle—up from roughly 25% the prior season—representing a meaningful step in the right direction, which we always expected.”

Phill Gray, the former long-time head trader for Sports Interaction and regular guest on the Gaming News Canada Show, returned to the podcast to deliver his thoughts and layers on the expanded in-play and same game parlay betting products, how sportsbooks are creating those markets in real time and the shifting role of traders with the operators. Gray also talked about the three types of bettors today, the acknowledgment by books that the customers did pretty darn well in October, and he offered his take on a new report by Bettometrics analyzing suspension times between top operators for Week 8 of the U.S. college football season, and Week 9 games in the National Football League.

Gray also weighed in on the ongoing debate around limiting, and the overwhelming popularity beyond the United States for wagering on the recent U.S. elections.

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