The competitive market for sports betting in Ontario has added another major European operator to the mix.
Betano, one of the two brands offered by Athens-based Kaizen Gaming, has now launched in Ontario's regulated framework for internet casino gambling and online sports betting.
Government agency iGaming Ontario announced the addition on Wednesday and updated its registry of regulated gaming sites to include Betano, which is offering both legal sports betting and casino games.
Congrats! ???? Kaizen Gaming Canada Inc. has joined the Ontario market as a legal and regulated Operator. Their Betano brand offerings include casino games, live casino and a sportsbook.
— iGaming Ontario (@iGamingOntario) October 19, 2022
URL: https://t.co/3hSVmQAWJx#PlaywithConfidence?#onlinegambling?#safergambling pic.twitter.com/8JGOiO2bCa
Betano's launch makes Kaizen the 26th operator to launch in Ontario's regulated iGaming market. It also comes just over two months after Kaizen was issued a one-year internet gaming license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Kaizen is the leading gaming-technology company in Greece and one of the fastest-growing players in the European iGaming industry. The company says it has more than 1.4 million active players spread across eight countries, including Greece, Portugal, Germany, and Brazil.
But Betano also joins a who's who list of major sportsbooks in Ontario, which includes FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM, all of whom are already up and running in Canada's richest and most populous gaming market.
Ontario's growing iGaming market, which launched in April, recently reported $6 billion in wagering for the second quarter of 2022, which covered the three months ending September 30. The action represented a sizeable 48.2% growth in handle over the province's inaugural quarter (which ran from April to June) — and the addition of new operators such as Betano will likely keep growing that wagering.
Soccer to be a Betano mainstay?
Betano may focus marketing efforts toward soccer bettors in Ontario, given the brand's vast presence and partnerships in the European soccer market.
Betano is currently partnered with three of Portugal's traditional soccer powerhouses — FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, and Benfica — in addition to its sponsorship deals with Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, and PAOK FC in Greece — three of the top five teams in Greece's highest league of club soccer.
On August 31, Betano announced it had entered into a sponsorship deal with leading Czech club Viktoria Plzen, which is currently competing in the UEFA Champions League.
In April, European lottery and gaming operator Allwyn (formerly known as Sazka Entertainment) agreed to take a 36.75% minority stake in Betano from Greek lottery operator OPAP. The deal involved a $49 million up-front payment to Kaizen Gaming and includes subsequent performance-based earnout payments over the next two years.
More significantly for Betano in Ontario, the launch comes just in time for the FIFA World Cup, which runs from November 20 to December 18. The event is expected to generate a lot of wagering interest in Ontario, which could be especially true with Canada participating. Ontario is also home to Major League Soccer's Toronto FC.
Furthermore, the Betano launch comes on the heels of Pinnacle indicating that it will officially go live in Ontario on October 26.
It also comes ahead of the October 31 deadline that the province has set for operators to transition from grey market operating status to that of an officially regulated sportsbook — marking another milestone for the legal sports betting market in Ontario.
