Officials with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation have said that its online gaming site, playolg.ca, should not have any impact on the bottom line of physical casino gaming locations in the province.
An article by the Gananoque Reporter has cited OLG spokesman Tony Bitonti as saying that the gaming corporation has studied other jurisdictions in Canada and Europe that have delved into online gaming and have seen no impact on brick-and-mortar gaming locations.
The report has quoted Bitonti as saying that, “In each case, the move into internet gambling has not resulted in a material loss or business at casinos.”
The article states that the OLG is hoping the playolg.ca will earn $375 million for the province over the next five years.
(With files from the Gananoque Reporter)
I think what the OLG is
I think what the OLG is saying has some merit. The gamblers that go to brick and mortar casinos will continue to go because they like the social aspects of gambling at a casino with real people. The people to which online casino gambling appeals to are a different 'breed'. The majority of people that this appeals to have been gambling at offshore, unregulated websites for well over a decade now. The government has been missing out on several 100`s of millions of dollars of revenue over the last several years. I think the more important question is why has it taken so long to get this up and running. Its better to capture some of this lost revenue which can directly benefit our society then to lose 100% of it to offshore interests.
The next thing to tackle is single game sports wagering. Another area where the government is missing out on tons of revenue to offshore sites.
In reply to I think what the OLG is by goody
Can't say that I agree. A
Can't say that I agree. A major portion of customers of Casinos that I've been to are seniors. There are many who do very little socializing ... and I'm sure there are many who would just as soon play on line if that option was available from a Canadian site (there are those who are leery of playing on an off-shore site).
Also I think it is a fallacy to put so much emphasis on "single game sports betting".
I've played on line for about 3 years and rarely bet on just ONE game. The point is that OLG's Proline (which is of course not on line) is very restrictive. The on line sites provide many more games to wager on and many more betting options than Proline.
Spot on Mr. Young and Mr.
Spot on Mr. Young and Mr. Liebenau. What they will get is "crocodile revenues" taken from their Bricks and Mortar sites. It is in their case a zero sum game between the two venues!!
The OLG anticipates earning
The OLG anticipates earning $375 Million (or more) over the next 5 years ... that would presumably be after expenses related to operating the site and payouts to customers.
The gross amount of gambling dollars would be very significant yet they are telling Casinos it would have no effect on their business ... how absurd.
They keep talking about the 4 or 5 hundred million dollars being spent on grey market sites. Most of that goes to single event sports betting which, at this point, the OLG is not providing ... yet they seem to think that Canadians are going to spend many millions a year on PlayOLG.
All quiet on the integration with Horse Racing (?)
I do not agree with
I do not agree with Mr.Bitonti
He is saying the equivalent of the opening of Teletheaters will not decrease the volume of betting at the tracks.Which we know has decreased significantly since the opening of teletheaters.