Single-game sports betting Friday began in Canada with the debut of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s Proline+.
The online sportsbook features betting options for all major North American sports leagues, and international sports such as soccer, tennis, golf, boxing, and mixed martial arts.
“More events, more betting options, and greater accessibility means more fan engagement with the comfort of knowing OLG stands behind the product,” said OLG President and CEO Duncan Hannay in a statement. “We’re proud that we can offer adult Ontarians the opportunity to bet on sports and have fun while also doing good and giving back, as all OLG proceeds support provincial priorities like health care.”
Through Proline+, bettors within the province can make pre-match or live wagers during games. A live event tracker keeps tabs on games in progress, and a cash-out feature allows for partial payouts for some bets before final game results are tallied.
In an analyst’s statement, Carlo Santarelli of Deutsche Bank noted that the lottery-centric operating model deployed by OLG has met with mixed results, failing to meet standards in Oregon, Montana and the District of Columbia, but succeeding in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
“Accordingly, our conclusion has been that a competitive product goes a long way in driving the success or failure of the offering, more so than simply the breadth of operators,” Santarelli wrote. “Additionally it’s important to note, that even in these lottery model states, the state lottery, or provincial lottery in the case of Canada, may be the only `legal’ game in town, but they certainly aren’t the only game in town, and as such, there is always some form of competition somewhere.”
PROLINE+ was developed through a partnership between OLG’s Digital teams and FDJ Gaming Solutions and Sporting Solutions, both owned by FDJ Group of France. The collaboration also will result in a new sports betting app and retail sports betting product available in Ontario in early 2022.
“With the recent legalization of single event wagering in Canada, this is the ideal time to launch PROLINE+,” said Sports Solutions CEO Andy Wright in a statement. “We are confident that our technology along with the global sports betting expertise of FDJ Group will bring a dynamic and compelling offering to Ontario.”
