The latest episode of the Gaming News Canada is a gathering of members of the fourth estate to discuss and debate the latest storylines in the business of sports wagering and gaming.

Dave Briggs, who mans the keyboard these days on the GNC newsletter. Robyn McNeil of Catena Media’s Bonus outlet and Covers senior news analyst Geoff Zochodne join the media roundtable. The three-year anniversary of Ontario’s open market sparked a good/bad/somewhat ugly-type of conversation, including the continued presence of 49 operators (and OLG), the (still) waiting for a centralized self-exclusion program to be delivered by iGaming Ontario through its partnership with IC360 and IXUp, the (still) waiting for Martha Otton’s replacement to lead iGO, and the ongoing cone of silence - most notably by the provincial government and the AGCO - around legal gambling in the province (McAllister also brought up the curious decision by the American Gaming Association to turn down an interview request for a CBS Sunday Morning feature into the explosion of online sports wagering in the U.S. of A. and gambling addiction). The panel also weighed in on the horse racing industry’s attempts to expand wagering through the Ontario open market, whither consolidation and the financial results delivered by the legal industry.

McNeil, Zochodne and Briggs also got into the efforts by the Danielle Smith government in Alberta to get approval on Bill 48 to establish its own open sports betting and igaming marketplace. And the all-journo podcast included a segment on the stories du jour, including the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s look into limiting, and the ongoing legal wrangling involving Kalshi, Robinhood and Crypto.com around “sports event trading”.

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It had been a while since John Levy last spoke when he appeared last month at the NEXT.io Summit in New York. He had a few things to say about the departure of himself and sons Aubrey, Noah and Benjie from PENN Entertainment some 14 months ago, more than 2 ½ years after PENN acquired theScore in 2021.

We’ve been giving it the old college try to get the elder Levy back on the podcast, and we finally succeeded this week as Ontario’s open, legal sports betting and igaming industry recognizes its third anniversary. Our conversation included a trip down memory lane before single-event sports betting was given legal blessing by the federal government, and your humble host read a quote from Levy in a May 2021 Toronto Star column about legal online gaming coming to the true north, strong and free,

Levy spoke about theScore’s success in Ontario, both pre- and post-PENN ownership, the company’s partnerships with the Toronto Blue Jays and Golf Canada, and some overall thoughts about the province’s legal gaming market, advertising and marketing strategies, the ongoing efforts by the industry around responsible gaming and the challenges/opportunities ahead in Ontario, Alberta and beyond.

He also (somewhat) answered our question about what’s next.

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Ontario’s open, regulated sports wagering and online gaming market will turn three years old next week (the Fourth of April to be exact). A marketplace that opened in 2022 with a baker’s dozen of operators approved to open their digital doors for business has expanded to 50 operators managing 84 gaming websites.

Just before the Ontario market’s third anniversary, your humble host recorded interviews with Bet99 head honcho Jared Beber, TRM Public Affairs president Troy Ross and igaming executive Amanda Brewer. Beber, Ross and Brewer answered our questions about the evolution of the province’s regulated industry – including changes made to the rules around advertising and the use of athletes - and the role of both the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario in creating one of the largest legal gambling jurisdictions on the planet. The trio also talked about the industry’s responsible gaming programs, and the province’s success in driving out offshore operators.

And, of course, the conversations included the to-come launch of open, regulated gambling in Alberta and the potential for other Canadian provinces to follow Ontario’s lead.

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