Will Ontario’s Land Based Casinos Ever Get Ahead of the Online Competition?

sportsgold 100x100By Staff

November 27, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

Will Ontario’s Land Based Casinos Ever Get Ahead of the Online Competition?

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There is something so very exciting when you are a space where people are having fun and excited about gambling – hard to have that experience online.

Canada continues to witness exciting growth in gambling revenue. As you’d expect, Ontario, the most populated province in Canada, was the most significant contributor, generating around $2.36 billion net profit annually. Furthermore, a large proportion of this was from online gambling.

What’s the Current State of Gambling in Canada?

Canada suffers a slightly confusing situation with regards to online gambling and the law. This is because online casinos are neither fully legal nor illegal. Instead, there are no clear laws that actually define online betting there. Separate policies exist for every single province. If this wasn’t bad enough, additional regulations are also in place for Native American tribes. As a result, inter-province agreements usually need to exist when an operator in one area wishes to provide services to someone in another.

Casinos throughout Canada are separated into either being part of their home country, or foreign/offshore. Province licensed casinos are entirely legal and offer sites written in both French and English. These sites also accept Canadian dollars, in addition to PayPal and other forms of payment. Foreign casinos which target Canadian residents aren’t really supposed to, as they’re not licensed in Canada itself. Nevertheless, many offshore casinos attempt to entice players by including the Canadian dollar as a currency option.

While playing at these sites isn’t problematic, banking options can be. Laws exist that restrict the movement of money from Canadian to foreign accounts. Nevertheless, this alone hasn’t affected access to foreign online casinos.

What are the Best Land Based Casinos in Ontario?

There is no shortage of land-based casinos in Ontario with 44 establishments existing there. On the Trip Advisor website, Caesars Windsor, the Niagara Falls View Casino, and Casino Niagara are the three casinos with the highest ratings. Here is a little more about each one.

Caesars Windsor. This casino promises a range of exciting gameplay thanks to a robust selection of slot and table games on offer. Players are promised an exhilarating experience each time they spin a reel, roll a dice or anticipate their next hand. The casino even offers a rewards system where players don’t have to use all their free slot play at once at one machine.

Niagara Falls View Casino. When a player steps onto the casino floor, they’re promised a feeling of excitement and energy as they navigate the 200,000 square feet area which is the size of three football fields! With over 3000 slot machines and 130 table games, players will never be short of new experiences here!

Casino Niagara. There’s plenty of fun and excitement to be experienced at Casino Niagara. The gaming floor is 95,000 square feet, and with two floors, there’s no end of choice, from slot machines to a range of different card tables, plus many others.

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One of the greatest tourist attractions in the world.

The Niagara Falls is a popular tourist hotspot with hotels and resorts boasting luxury casinos for their guests.

Despite Losing Out to Online, Land Based Casinos are Now Fighting Back

This year, land-based casinos in Ontario generated $200 million. While this may sound impressive, it is not. As last year, the figure stood at $2.3 billion. The main reason this has happened is due to the competition from online casinos. It’s generally accepted that online casinos are more convenient than land-based ones and that they offer a better choice of games. A lot of sites do spoil their players for choice with many offering a range of casino games such as an online baccarat game as well as roulette and slot games. Online casinos also tend to have better bonuses and promotions for their players too. Moreover, players don’t feel the pressure to dress up, like they may do when attending an actual casino, and they may not feel as pressured to spend large amounts of money.

However, the state of land-based casinos hasn’t helped either. Some facilities are worn out, and money laundering was known to be rife. Yet, tax contributions from these establishments remained impressive.

Now, private operators will take over from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp (OLG) in the greater Ontario area. New casino projects have been planned, such as the Parq Vancouver resort, as well as a full revamp of the existing Niagara casino. Which will include upgrading its appearance and investing in new gaming options such as a sportsbook. The Kingsway Entertainment District is yet another scheme that, amongst other amenities, will also include a casino.

While all this does sound positive for land-based casinos, it still needs to be considered that international companies will be allowed to operate legally in Ontario, which will create even more competition when new brands eventually launch.

Could Ontario Online and Land-Based Casinos Ever be Considered Equal?

Ontario and Canada are witnessing impressive growth in online gambling, while revenues from land-based casinos have somewhat stagnated. It is expected that online casinos will continue to grow, mainly thanks to online casinos being legalised in different provinces. Equally, it will be interesting to see how land-based casinos will perform in the near future, considering their past impressive performance, and the recent changes that could allow them to compete better with online casinos.

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