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Popular Canadian iGaming Brands that are Publicly Listed

  • Published date20 April 2023  
  • AuthorGayle Mitchell

Since April 2022, it is legally possible to operate online casinos in Canada. The state of Ontario has launched the new internet gaming market on April 4. In order to operate online casinos in Ontario, iGaming companies must successfully register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and enter into an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario (iGO), a subsidiary of the AGCO. A few iGaming companies have already successfully fulfilled these prerequisites and are now operating their brands in Canada; others are set to follow.

IGaming brands that are now available in Canada include:

  • 888casino
  • LeoVegas
  • Betway
  • Jackpot City
  • Royal Vegas
  • Ruby Fortune
  • Spin Casino
  • Pokerstars
  • Betfair
  • Paddy Power
  • FanDuel
  • Sky Betting & Gaming
  • Sportsbet

The global online casino market has recently been and is still going through a phase of mergers and acquisition, resulting in iGaming companies owning and operating more than one brand. In the case of the above listed iGaming brands now operating in Canada, these belong to four publically listed iGaming holding companies, which will be discussed further below.

As for the phase of merges and acquisitions: this is characteristic especially for markets that are grounded on digital economics, i.e. digital products such as online casinos and online betting. Importantly though, the iGaming market will not be a “winner takes all” market, as is it doesn’t have the properties of for example social networks or computer operating systems. This means, different (holding or parent) companies will coexist in the long-term (and anti-trust laws will probably make sure of this too).

The growing iGaming market

The iGaming market has seen some interesting times since the corona pandemic. Though online casino and betting companies have already existed before Covid-19, it was the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns that led to a boost in the iGaming market. For one thing, many brick ‘n mortar casino players were more or less forces to play in online casinos if they wanted to continue playing. And additionally, the online casino market also showed growth in new customers, perhaps also because entertainment options were generally limited.

So, during the lockdown phases of the pandemic, iGaming companies went through a phase of major growth as they could accommodate the mass of new players more or less instantly because they were not restricted by physical space such as brick ‘n mortar casinos. This led to major increases in the number of customers and in turnover, resulting in a subsequent run on iGaming stocks. As a result, stock prices rose sharply until around autumn 2021, after which prices started levelling off.

Whilst the performance and growth of many iGaming companies has decreased since the current macroeconomic consequences of the Russian war on Ukraine, it can be expected that iGaming brands will continue to do well overall and regain stock value once the world re-stabilizes, by way of adaptation and/or the end of the war.

According to Zion Market Research, the online gambling & betting market is currently valued at approximately 61,5bn USD and is expected to grow to about 114.4bn USD by 2028m which equates to a growth rate of about 10.9% per year.

888 Holdings plc (LSE: 888)

Brands operating in Canada: 888casino

888 Holdings is a diversified and technology led iGaming company that offers online casino, poker and sports. Its internationally renowned iGaming brands include 888, William Hill, Mr Green and SI Sportsbook. 888 has been listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 2005.

In Canada, 888 Holdings operates its renowned online casino brand “888casino”.

Revenue performance

Like most successful iGaming companies, 888 Holdings has increased its revenue noticeably since 2019, when the total revenue was 560m USD. In 2020, its revenue rose to 697m USD, and rose further to 769m USD in 2021. The H1 results for 2022 were recently published and revenue is at 332m USD, which is down -13% year-over-year (YoY). However, the company attributes this mostly to more stringent safer gambling policies in the UK and to its closure in the Netherlands. Excluding Netherlands and UK, revenue was actually up by 2%... which is less growth than the years before, most likely as a result of the current global economic situation. For H1 2022, lower profits are also due to the costs associated with the acquisition of William Hill.

In Canada, 888 Holdings operates its renowned online casino brand “888casino”.

Stock price performance

At the beginning of 2019, 888’s stock price was at 166 GBp (Great British Pence) and did not move much for the whole year. As was the case for most iGaming stocks, 888’s stock price decreased at the beginning of 2021 as the dimensions of the pandemic became clearer, and it reached its lowest point in the middle of March 2022 at around 80 GBp. After that, the stock price kept rising until October 2021, when it reached an impressive 460 GBp. Thereafter, it started going down again, which can probably be seen as a normalization phase after a rally.

Currently (August 2022), the stock price has gone down to around 160 GBp, with the current macroeconomic situation due to the Russian war in Ukraine weighing on consumer spending. It can be expected that, as the economy recovers and inflation goes down, stock prices will go up again as revenue growth recovers as a result of improved consumer spending.

Performance of brands operating in Canada

Since April 2022, 888 operates its very popular 888casino brand in the Canadian online casino market. 888casino is actually one of the oldest online casinos. Not only is it considered a true pan-European casino, it also operates outside of Europe. In 2013, it became the first online casino to be licensed in the United States and is now also one of the first online casinos to be licensed in Canada.

Super Group (SGHC) Limited (NYSE: SGHC)

Brands operating in Canada: Betway, Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Ruby Fortune, Spin Casino

Super Group (SGHC) is a holding company for a number of global iGaming brands in the space of sports betting and online casino. It was founded in 2021 and has been trading on the NYSE exchange since January 28, 2022. It mainly consists of the Betway Group and Spin.

Its brands not only include Betway and Spin Casino, but also include online casino brands such as Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Ruby Fortune. Super Group operates their iGaming brands in 17 countries.

Super Group has successfully registered the above-mentioned iGaming brands in Canada and these online casinos have been operating in Canada since April 2022.

Revenue performance

Since Super Group is a fairly new (holding) company, there are not many financial reports available. Of course, one could look at past reports of the Betway Group and this is of course recommended. However, here we will just look at the Q1 and Q2 results published by Super Group. Revenue was reported at 334.48m EUR for Q1 and 320.82m for Q2.

Stock price performance

Super Groups stock price was traded for the first time on January 28, 2022, for 8.25 USD. The stock price was fairly stable until May, when the macroeconomic consequences of the Russian war on Ukraine also started influencing the SGHC stock price. In mid-August 2022 (the time this article was written), shares were trading at 5.02 USD.

Since its main subsidiary, Betway and Spin, have been solidly performing companies for a long time, it can be expected that once the world returns to a more or less normal state, the stock price will start to rise again as revenue forecasts will improve with increased consumer spending.

Performance of brands operating in Canada

As mentioned above, Super Group now operates several of its online casino brands in Canada. Betway is of course a well-established and well performing brand, as is Spin Casino. Jackpot City, Royal Vegas and Ruby Fortune are also well-performing online casino brands that operate in several markets. Super Group definitely has an impressive set of iGaming brands on which to build ever more increasing shareholder value.

Flutter Entertainment plc (LSE: FLTR)

Brands operating in Canada: Pokerstars, Betfair, Paddy Power, FanDuel, Sky Betting & Gaming, Sportsbet

Flutter describes itself as a parent company of some of the world’s biggest and most popular iGaming brands and this is most certainly true. It operates online betting and online casino sites in more than 20 regulated markets, including Pokerstars, Betfair, Paddy Power, FanDuel, Sky Betting & Gaming and Sportsbet, which now also operated in Canada. Other global brands include Tombola, TVG, Sisal, Adjarabet and Junglee Games.

In 2021, Flutter services a total of over 18 million customers, at an average of 7.6m customers playing each month.

The company came into existence in 2016, after a series of mergers & acquisition involving Paddy Power and Betfair. Until 2019, it was known as Paddy Power Betfair plc but then changed its name to Flutter Entertainment plc. Flutter has continuously grown also by way of acquisitions, in 2022 for example it acquired Sisal.

Flutter is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), where it is part of the FTSE 100 (the LSE share index of the 100 companies with the highest market capitalization).

Revenue performance

Going back to 2018, Flutter (or then: Paddy Power Betfair plc) posted 1,873m GBP (Great British Pounds) in total revenue (1,8bn). Whilst revenue increased to 2,140m GBP in 2019, it more than doubled in 2020 to 4,414m GBP and grew another 37% in 2021 to reach 6,036m GBP (over 6 billion GBP). Interim revenue results for H1 2022 were posted at 3,388m GBP.

Stock price performance

Flutter’s stock price has performed well since 2019 (and before that). At the beginning of 2019, shares were trading at around 6,400 GBp and reached around 9,000 GBp by end of 2019. Whilst starting out well into 2020, the share price took a dip during the beginning phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, down to 6,500 GBp in the middle of March 2019. After that, the share price went up noticeably (like many iGaming stocks), reaching around 15,000 GBp in autumn 2021. From then on, the share price has dropped to around 8,000 GBp by the beginning of July 2022, a trend which is most certainly influenced by the current world events.

Remarkably, since the beginning of July 2022, the stock has risen to 10,715 GBp by mid-August (time of writing this article). This can be attributed to a better than expected performance for the first half year of 2022, with revenue going up 11% YoY and the average number of customers having climbed 14% to 8.7 million.

Performance of brands operating in Canada

As mentioned above, Flutter has some really strong global iGaming brands, with the most important and popular one now also operating in Canada. Canada is considered to be a high growth market, so Flutter can be expected to do well here and create substantial additional revenue for the company.

LeoVegas (Nasdaq Stockholm: LEO)

Brands operating in Canada: LeoVegas

LeoVegas is a Swedish mobile gaming company as well as a provider of online casino and sports betting services. The LeoVegas online casino brand operates in several countries and has now also successfully registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). LeoVegas started operating in Canada in April 2022.

LeoVegas’s stock price has been steady at around 61 SEK and the reason for this is simple: MGM Resorts International has recently offered to acquire LeoVegas, in cash, at SEK 61.00 per share, and LeoVegas has recommended its shareholders to accept the offer. Before the offer, stocks were trading at 42 SEK.

After incorporation into MGM, the successful LeoVegas brand will continue to exist as such.

LeoVegas has in essence gone through a similar journey as other iGaming brands, as it grew rapidly through the course of the pandemic.

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Senior Editor Gayle Mitchell

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Gayle Mitchell is the leading female expert on casino gambling and has written extensively, presented seminars and was editor of four gaming newsletters. She is the author of seven books, 12 Ebooks, and five Tips booklets. Online since 1999, Mitchell has owned and operated 4 gaming websites. Her writing and teaching style is targeted at educating novice and passionate casino players.

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