The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has licensed Kindred Group plc and Light and Wonder ahead of the iGaming market’s launch on April 4. The two will be joining a generous list of other prestigious gaming suppliers and operators with names like Kambi, FansUnite, PintsBet, or LeoVegas.
Kindred Reaches New Milestone
Malta-registered Kindred Group plc has been given the green light to launch its sports betting and iGaming products in the largest Canadian market in the country, ahead of its official opening at the beginning of next month. This will mark the seventh iGaming North American license for Unibet, Kindred’s flagship brand that will become available for Ontario bettors and players through the on.unibet.ca website. On the day of the Ontario gaming market launch, Unibet’s mobile apps will also become available via the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
In anticipation of Ontario becoming one of the most lucrative markets in the North American region, Kindred considers its license an “interesting proposition”, as declared by the group’s country manager for Canada, Amanda Brewer. She also called the news a “significant milestone” for both Unibet and Kindred, expressing their eagerness to launch on the very same day when the market will open. The two companies are looking forward to working on solid partnerships with operators and customers alike.
Kindred has been reuniting nine of the most popular gambling brands in Europe under the same rooftop for the past two and a half decades. The group continuously invests in fresh technology, state-of-the-art products, and a top-notch team, with the declared goal to change the face of gambling. One of their top goals is to be able to generate zero percent revenue resulting from harmful forms of gambling.
Light & Wonder Scores Its Sixth iGaming License in North America
Formerly known as Scientific Games, Light & Wonder was also granted a supplier license from the AGCO to freely enter the Ontario market. This will mark its presence in a sixth regulated iGaming jurisdiction in the area, after Connecticut, New Jersey, or Michigan, to name just a few. The company will provide operators who have obtained an Ontario license with its popular OpenGaming platform for content aggregation. The platform is home to over 2,500 games, as well as a series of important tools for integration, marketing, and responsible gaming.
The company’s managing director in the Americas Robert Hays expressed their excitement regarding the license that will give them access to a market where their games “have resonated with players for years”. The new license is also seen as an important way of expanding into the private sector, also marking a significant milestone for the company. Operators will be granted access to a number of games developed by Light & Wonder’s in-house team. The list also includes third-party releases, together with well-established titles like Marvelous Mouse Coin Combo, 88 Fortunes, or Dancing Drums Explosion.
Light & Wonder is determined to keep positioning itself as the world’s best cross-platform gaming company and the new Ontario license is an essential step of the process.
Why Is Ontario Such A Powerful Magnet for Suppliers?
The soon-to-open Ontario market is packed with a large number of sports aficionados and popular teams. It couldn’t be any other way, given the impressively long history and undeniable popularity of the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, or the Major League Baseball leagues.
Ontario is also a one-of-a-kind market thanks to its multiculturalism and versatility of matches constantly available here, ranging from cricket to rugby, soccer, curling, and tennis. In other words, Canada in general and Ontario, in particular, have been blessed with a huge and almost endless list of sports that can be wagered on. Plenty of fans will be looking forward to placing their first wagers on each and every one of these sports starting April 4 with the help of Kindred and Light & Wonder.