Ontario has agreed with Mohegan-controlled MGE Niagara Entertainment Inc. to end the company’s exclusive gaming rights in the Niagara region. MGE will keep operating Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara, while Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation prepares to launch a procurement process later this year to identify possible new operators.
Casino.org said the deal is part of Ontario’s Destination Niagara Strategy, a plan that aims to attract 25 million visitors a year to the region and add $3 billion to annual GDP. Doug Downey, Ontario’s interim minister of tourism, culture and gaming, said Niagara is one of the province’s premier tourism destinations and that the government is trying to unlock its full potential and attract more visitors and investment for decades to come.
The agreement matters because Ontario’s casino model gives private-sector operators the right to run land-based casinos through deals with OLG, which keeps responsibility for conducting and managing gaming. Those agreements also grant exclusivity rights in the regions where operators work, so MGE’s waiver opens the door for other companies to compete for a place in Niagara.
CityNews reported that the change could allow additional casino and entertainment operators in Niagara Falls. The same report said Destination Niagara is part of an effort to double visitor numbers in the region and includes visions such as multiple new casinos, a theme park, an expanded airport and more.
The strategy is tied to infrastructure work as well. Casino.org said the transport improvements mentioned in support of the plan include twinning the QEW’s Garden City Skyway bridge, expanding Niagara District Airport and making use of the region’s international bridge crossings. The province has put $10 million into the airport project, and transportation minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the government is making historic investments to make it faster and easier for millions of tourists to reach Niagara Falls each year.
There is already a substantial casino economy in place. CityNews reported that Niagara’s existing casinos attract more than 5 million visitors a year and generate more than $500 million a year in gaming revenue for the province. Gaming Intelligence added that OLG has provided more than C$256 million to the City of Niagara Falls since 1996 for hosting Fallsview and Casino Niagara, while Richard Taylor, president of Niagara Casinos, said the two properties have been economic drivers in the region for almost 30 years. OLG president and chief executive Duncan Hannay said the company and MGE were continuing their strong partnership, though CityNews said the timing for completing the procurement was not immediately clear.
