Exclusive: Bet365 & theScore Bet are Most Popular Sportsbooks in Ontario

One month in, data shows Bet365 & theScore Bet leading the pack of Ontario sports betting apps in terms of downloads, while the 888poker app is more “visible” than those of its rivals.
Toronto skyline is seen against blue sky. CN Tower and skyscrapers rise up from the shore of Lake Ontario. Ontario, Canada's biggest province, launched its regulated online poker, casino gaming, & sports betting market on April 4.
By
May 04, 2022

One month into Ontario’s regulated marketplace for online poker, casino gaming, and sports betting, data from the website SensorTower, show several patterns are beginning to emerge.

The data show Bet365 is one of the most popular Ontario online casino apps and Ontario sports betting apps, dominating both verticals in terms of downloads made in Canada in March from the Apple iTunes Store, which SensorTower tracks. Hometown favorite theScoreBet, based in Toronto, is also off to a great start for sportsbook downloads.

Download figures are only available on a national basis, for the whole of Canada. However, Ontario is the most populous province in Canada.

But the data also show that some brands with apps that can handle more than one vertical are not as popular as single-vertical apps, in terms of downloads. The sportsbook and poker markets are also likely to face disruption once DraftKings Ontario and PokerStars Ontario launch in the province.

888poker Ontario App More Visible Than Its Rivals

SensorTower data show the four operators offering Ontario online poker apps have each had their apps downloaded less than 5,000 times in March.

But the visibility score — a calculation by the website designed to illustrate how “visible” an app is in the iTunes Store — shows customers are being drawn to the 888poker Ontario app more than its rivals.

Poker App Downloads Visibility Score
888poker Ontario less than 5,000 2,509
BetMGM Poker Ontario less than 5,000 1,249
partypoker less than 5,000 193
bwin poker less than 5,000 79

Considering that Entain’s partypoker Ontario and bwin Ontario brands have formed a three-skin online poker network with BetMGM Poker Ontario, the combined exposure of the three apps may be enough to keep 888poker close in terms of downloads and market share.

Bet365 and LeoVegas Lead Casino Downloads

Currently, European operators Bet365 and LeoVegas appear to be dominating the online casino vertical. Both have multiple apps available that were analyzed by SensorTower.

Bet365 has four Ontario online casino apps available for download on the iTunes Store, two of which had 10,000 downloads in March. Meanwhile, LeoVegas has two apps available, one of which topped 10,000 downloads as well.

Casino App Downloads Visibility Score
888casino Ontario 5,000 2,700
bet365 Bingo less than 5,000 535
bet365 Casino 10,000 1,613
bet365 Games 10,000 8,162
bet365 Live Casino less than 5,000 1,106
BetMGM Casino Ontario 8,000 6,827
bwin Online Casino Games less than 5,000 140
FanDuel Casino Canada less than 5,000 611
LeoVegas Online Casino Games 10,000 3,826
LeoVegas Online Casino Canada 5,000 861

The BetMGM Casino Ontario App came in the middle of the pack with 8,000 downloads, but it had one of the higher visibility scores. That likely means that the omnichannel strategy championed by BetMGM, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Entain, is creating in-roads in the province.

In a twist, MGM announced Monday that it had made a $607 million cash offer for LeoVegas.

The 888casino Ontario App was right behind BetMGM with 5,000 downloads. FanDuel Casino Canada didn’t break the 5,000-download threshold, according to Sensor Tower.

Bet365, theScore Bet Dominate Ontario Sportsbook Downloads

Online sportsbooks are, by far, the most competitive space in Ontario’s regulated market, with 10 operators trying to outfox the other.

One month into the market, SensorTower data show Bet365 and theScore Bet are dominating in terms of downloads, with 90,000 and 80,000 downloads in March, respectively.

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that theScore Bet is near the top in downloads since it’s part of Toronto-based Score Media, which is widely known in the Canadian sports media market and has the most popular sports media app. Penn National acquired Score Media for $2 billion in October 2021.

Sportsbook App Downloads Visibility Score
888sport Ontario less than 5,000 1,921
Bet365 Sports Betting 90,000 4,171
BetMGM Sport Ontario 20,000 3,525
bwin Sports Online Betting less than 5,000 519
Caesars Sportsbook 50,000 638
FanDuel Sportsbook 40,000 1,910
LeoVegas Sport less than 5,000 326
OLG PROLINE less than 5,000 4,229
partypoker Sports Betting less than 5,000 1,061
theScore Bet 80,000 3,692

Caesars Sportsbook Ontario was third in terms of downloads with 50,000, followed by FanDuel Sportsbook Ontario with 40,000 downloads and BetMGM Sports Ontario with 20,000.

Considering that DraftKings Sportsbook has not yet launched in the province, one has to wonder if these three American rivals got off to a big enough head-start to keep DraftKings in their rear-view mirror for a while.

SensorTower data also show that downloads of 888sport Ontario are off to a slow start — less than 5,000 — compared to its rivals. Other sportsbook operators with low download totals include bwin, LeoVegas, partypoker, and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), with its PROLINE platform.

Still, the website gave the OLG the highest visibility score among the sportsbooks. The score is likely a reflection of the platform’s availability and popularity before the regulated market launched on April 4.

PointsBet Leads in Multi-Vertical App Downloads

Three operators active in Ontario — BetRivers Ontario, PointsBet, and Unibet — use a single app for more than one vertical. In each case, they use the same app for both online casino gaming and sports betting.

Multi-Vertical App Downloads Visibility Score
BetRivers Casino Sportsbook Ontario less than 5,000 2,332
PointsBet Sportsbook & Casino 5,000 1,157
Unibet Ontario Casino & Sports less than 5,000 2,268

Data from SensorTower shows that the PointsBet app has been downloaded more than its two competitors. But despite that advantage, the website gave PointsBet a visibility score roughly half that of BetRivers and Unibet, with a slight edge to the former, a title of Rush Street Interactive (RSI).

Learn more about Ontario Online Sports Betting, Ontario Online Casinos, and Ontario Online Poker in pokerfuse’s comprehensive guides »

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling (VACPG) helpline at 1-888-532-3500

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