Gaming News Canada Show

On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, the CEO and Registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Dr. Karin Schnarr, joined Steve McAllister.

Schnarr, who replaced Tom Mungham as the AGCO’s leader in September 2023, talked about her decision to leave the world of academia and how her experiences within the Ontario government and as a board member with iGaming Ontario helped prepare her for the current role. McAllister also asked Schnarr about the challenges that come with overseeing an organization in charge of regulating gaming, alcohol, cannabis and horse racing for Canada’s largest province.

McAllister asked Schnarr about AGCO’s relationship with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) when it comes to land-based casinos in the province considering the Doug Ford government’s recent announcement for the Niagara Falls region. She also expanded on her comments from the Global Gaming Expo in September about the work the commission is doing to combat illegal gambling operators.

Other topics included the opening of Alberta’s regulated sports betting and igaming market and the potential for other provinces to follow Alberta and Ontario’s lead; the never-ending debate about advertising; and the ongoing evolution of the Ontario market.

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Given the tidal wave of happenings across the Canadian gaming industry these days, the timing was apropos for host Steve McAllister to bring Canadian Gaming Association head honcho Paul Burns back to the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.

McAllister and Burns covered a lot of ground on this episode including:

• Burns’s thoughts on the recent announcement by the Ontario government to create a Las Vegas North in the Niagara Falls region.
• Takeaways from the BCLC’s New Horizons conference last week.
• The bill to create a national framework for sports betting advertising is heading back to the House of Commons for final discussion. And that was the catalyst for McAllister and Burns to discuss different scenarios to react to the efforts on Parliament Hill to curb advertising.
• The CGA president/CEO’s reaction to recent gaming-related news in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Yukon/Northwest Territories, Quebec and British Columbia.
• We asked Burns about the latest research into problem gambling, including The Toronto Star investigation into iGaming Ontario’s decision to keep a commissioned study quiet.

Finally, Burns provided some details around a networking event the CGA will hold in conjunction with Acquire.bet in Montreal at the end of November.

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One of the original members of The Parleh posse (remember the days of those Thursday afternoon gatherings on Clubhouse/Twitter Spaces/LinkedIn Audio with Amanda Brewer and Phill Gray??) makes his return to the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.

Kris Abbott, the General Manager of Stake Canada, joined host Steve McAllister for a cross-topics conversation that began with Stake recently being given the green light to make its online sports betting and gaming products available in Alberta’s regulated market. McAllister also asked Abbott for an update on Stake’s application to join the four-and-a-half-year old Ontario market.

The conversation also included opportunities and challenges within the country’s two regulated gambling markets, and the continuing controversy around advertising. Speaking of which, Abbott provided some insight into Stake’s marketing strategy for Alberta.

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The conversation on research into the Canadian gambling industry continued on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.

Dr. Carrie Shaw, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Alberta and Research Chair of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, was Steve McAllister’s guest for a segment on AGRI’s history and the work being done. McAllister asked Shaw about the recently released findings from a study into the Canadian Provincial Channelization of Online Gambling in 2025 and why the researchers were denied access to information about the Ontario market.

Jessica Welman, Deputy Director of Doura-Schawohl Consulting and the former Editor-in-Chief for SBC Americas, made her return to the GNCS. Among the topics do jour were her work these days, the continuing controversy around advertising by gambling operators in North America, the current state of the gambling industry in the U.S., and other matters.

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On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, Dr. Michael Naraine joins host Steve McAllister to continue the conversation they had for last week’s newsletter regarding a Toronto Star investigation into research commissioned by iGaming Ontario that wasn’t released.

Naraine, a professor in the sports management program at Brock University and a member of the Institute on Sports Wagering and Gaming at San Diego State University, expanded on his reaction to Brendan Kennedy’s reporting in The Star, including criticism of iGaming Ontario’s decision to tender the research project five years ago and eventually award it to the Responsible Gambling Council.

He also talked about the creation of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute more than 25 years ago and the work done by AGRI, including new research about problem gambling rates in Ontario since the launch of the province’s regulated sports betting and igaming market. Naraine believes Ontario should exploit the brainpower at universities across the province to create its own institute , and also called on the provincial government to increase the tax rate on regulated operators to help fund research around problem gambling.

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On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, host Steve McAllister welcomed back long-time sports media/business/tech entrepreneur, executive and advisor Eric Herd.

These days the Head of Global Media & Emerging Markets at Yieldmo, Herd talked about his current role and the work his company is doing with professional sports teams. Most of his conversation, however, was focused on the ongoing relationship between sports betting operators and media companies, the For Sale sign being placed on sports betting content company SportsGrid, the shutting down of the FanDuel Sports Network and a recent restructuring of Vegas Sports and Information Network (VSiN).

McAllister also asked Herd for his thoughts on the sports rights landscape that now includes streaming companies (i.e. Netflix), the shifting watching habits of sports fans, and more.

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Given the daily flurry of news, notes and quotes around the Canadian gaming industry, Steve McAllister brought back his media colleagues Geoff Zochodne (Covers) and Tom Nightingale (Canadian Gaming Business/SBC Americas) for an extended episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.

Among the stream of topics covered:

• A postmortem on a busy Global Gaming Expo, including the piling on by the American Gaming Association and others against prediction markets over the three days of panels, fireside chats and speeches at the Las Vegas conference.
• The latest on Alberta’s regulated market, including the comments of Service Alberta/Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally on how many operators will be up and running (legally) by October 13, what the province can do when it comes to unlicensed operators moving forward, a federal bill to create guardrails around sports betting advertising, and possibly exploring the use of cryptocurrency in the gaming space.
• Comments by AGCO boss Dr. Karin Schnarr at G2E about Ontario also seeking to deal more harshly with unlicensed operators.
• The results from the Quebec provincial election and what that may mean for regulated gambling in La Belle Province.
• The ongoing discussion around sports betting and igaming advertising by national TV networks and most notably TSN and Sportsnet.
• Nightingale’s interview last week with Molly Cormier on the rebranding of the Canadian Lottery Coalition to the Canadian Alliance for Regulated Gaming and what that means.
• And, a lengthy final segment on last week’s Supreme Court of Canada appeal hearing with some provincial lottery and gaming corporations pushing back against Ontario’s wishes for cross-borders gaming.

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Between trips to Las Vegas for the BSA/AML Gaming Conference and this week’s Global Gaming Expo, Derek Ramm made his return to the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.

Ramm, the Global Head of Advisory Services for Kinectify and a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Gaming Association, has been a leading voice for an overhaul of anti-money laundering rules and regulations in the Canadian gambling industry with a special focus on online gaming. He spoke with host Steve McAllister about recent monetary penaltieslevied by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) against the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation and New Brunswick Gaming Corporation.

Ramm sits on an AML working group in the CGA and spoke about the conversations the association has had with the federal government. We also asked the Kinectify exec why AML programs have yet to be put in place by gaming regulators in both Ontario and Alberta, and why he believes revised AML measures matter so much.

Finally, he spoke about what he and his colleagues at Kinectify are seeing with the data being collected around the industry these days.

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On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, mkdodo Commercial 

Director Will Whitehead spoke with host Steve McAllister on the UK company’s continued expansion into North America – including Alberta – introduction of new products and other topics.

Whitehead, who joined mkodo as an account executive in 2013 and has been in the commercial director’s role for almost five years, talked about the retirement of Stuart Godfree this summer and the lessons learned from the company’s co-founder and long-time managing director. The conversation with McAllister included the introduction of mkodo’s GeoLocs product into Alberta over the summer and its presence in the Ontario market that includes collaborating with Bede Gaming to support OLG’s igaming business.

There’s also a segment on mkodo’s adoption of new tools, including Fraud Shieldand the challenges and opportunities around the demand for products beyond geolocation in today’s regulated gaming industry. Whitehead also addressed mkodo’s expansion strategy for the North American regulated market.

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On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, Jonah Sigel rejoined Steve McAllister for a wide-ranging discussion on the business of sports, sports media and sports betting.

Sigel, a Toronto Star contributor and the host of the Bleav In The Pressrow podcast, gave McAllister his thoughts on the Sportsnet/NHL partnership and the tweaks that were made over the summer to talent at Hockey Night in Canada. He was also asked about the contract status of popular Toronto Raptors voice Jack Armstrong, which appears to be related to the new ownership structure of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

Five years after Sportsnet hired Cabral (Cabbie) Richards as executive producer of sports betting content – a move that didn’t pan out - Sigel and McAllister debated the integration of sports betting into sports media including the relationship between FanDuel and TSN, why the networks haven’t leaned into a second-screen experience that’s betting focused, and Sigel’s opinion on that information being provided around game broadcasts.

Finally, the host and his guest talked about the current state of sports media and journalism.

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