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Ontario report The newest mature market
While the familiarity with the products themselves may already be there , familiarity with the specifics of a regulated environment may not .
This , Narkis says , could create a teething issue , as players used to the lack of checks in the pre-regulated market face an unexpected number of hurdles in order to be able to play .
“ There are early-stage problems , such as players that all of a sudden need to be verified ,” he says . “ They need to use third-party software that detects their location . These types of settings could lead to drop-offs .
“ Particularly for players who played before with grey-market operators where they were not asked to go through those stages , they now will have to get used to it . As technology advances , it will mitigate those things , but in the near future that will be a challenge .”
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY Part of the way in which Ontario resembles a mature market may be down to the rules around promotions . The province ’ s standards for betting and igaming include a number of ad restrictions , including a rule stating that bonuses could not be advertised outside of operators ’ own websites .
This , Narkis explains , has made it harder to rely on the trusty method of affiliation to gain market share .
“ There is a challenge in finding affiliation channels because in Ontario
you cannot advertise bonuses , so we ’ ll have to see how that pans out ,” he says .
When comparing Ontario with those jurisdictions to its south where operators have been spending huge sums on bonuses , that creates a stark difference . Indeed , a number of leading US operators have already fallen foul of Ontario ’ s marketing rules .
With less focus on bonuses , the market may naturally look more similar to more mature jurisdictions .
Narkis notes , though , that there are plenty of options available to operators who have a good understanding of a range of marketing tools .
“ There ’ s an advanced and rather restriction-free media landscape ,” he says . “ Everything from above-the-line to below-the-line to digital will now become available . There ’ s Google , Facebook , programmatic advertising , connected TV . It allows operators who are marketing-savvy and want strong brands , if they invest wisely , to build strong brands .”
And while there may not be as much aggressive bonusing as the US , Narkis says there will still be plenty of fighting for market share .
“ I think we will see , at least in the first couple of years , some aggressive landgrabbing from a marketing point of view from some new entrants ,” he says .
“ It will be interesting to see how the incumbent brands , the ones that have already been operating in the grey market , respond to this . How they respond might be very different depending on their overall strategies .”
Among those willing to make a big splash in advertising , Narkis says , will be his own business .
“ We are going to be very aggressive in the marketing ,” he says . “ We have a seven-figure marketing budget ,
Ontario report