Raise the Hammer

Currently there is increasing competition for customers’ spending money. Live entertainment took up more share of wallet than l0ttery and g@ming in 2009 for the first time since 2001. Cable & pay TV and live entertainment continued gaining share.

L0ttery & G@ming: 42.2% (2001), 33.2% (2010)
Cable & Pay TV: 17.1% (2001), 24.6% (2010)
Live Entertainment: 30.9% (2001), 35.0% (2010)

Recreational Spend Total: $10.5B (2001), $14.4B (2010)

Recommendation One: OLG is recommending the expansion of l0ttery sales options to multi-lane retailers, including supermarkets and big box stores, while continuing to support convenience store retailers.

Recommendation Two: In l0ttery, OLG should shift the day-to-day operation of its l0ttery network. There should also be an expansion of retail options for l0ttery sales including multi-lanes in large stores, the internet and mobile devices. At the same time, OLG should allow for regulated private sector game development to foster innovation and increase responsiveness.

Internet and Charitable G@ming:

When it is first launched in late 2012 (and fully in 2013), OLG’s internet g@ming site will uphold standards aimed at protecting players from risks such as problem g@mbling and identity theft or financial fraud. Over the first five years of operation, internet g@ming is estimated to deliver a cumulative $375 million in Net Profit to the Province and create about 50 jobs (both at OLG and in the industry) in Ontario.

Following a staged rollout of products, OLG will deliver a full range of games on the internet through an online site accessible by computers and other internet-connected devices offering l0ttery ticket sales, interactive c@sino-style games (against the house) and peer-to-peer games like p0ker….

OLG will roll out a standardized suite of paper and electronic games to all interested b!ngo halls in Ontario. (The suite of games will not include sl0t machines.) OLG will offer B!ngo, Break-Open Tickets, R@ffles and L0ttery games or variations of these games to be played on paper, electronic devices or delivered through electronic dispensing units. Over eight years of operation, this Charitable B!ngo and G@ming initiative will deliver about $475 million for Ontario charities. This initiative will create hundreds of part-time jobs while preserving the role of the thousands of volunteers who are currently involved in community-based charitable activity.”

http://www.olg.ca/assets/documents/media/strategic_business_review2012.pdf


The OLG's problem? 37% growth in recreational spending 2001-2010 but a 20% decline in gaming share in the same period.

The OLG's solution -- adding more c@sinos in more communities, goosing up l0ttery kiosks, putting b!ngo on EPO and throwing online and mobile g@ming into the mix -- may result in a bigger provincial net take but lower per-venue share.

There's also potential competition inside venues themselves, as table games are added. The municipalities now typically get 5% of sl0ts revenue, while the operator and the province split the rest. It is conceivable that the municipality's c@sino revenues could even decline while the c@sino turns in identical net profits or posts revenue gains in non-sl0t streams.

And even if there's no c@sino downtown, Delta B!ngo could get revitalized via a scintillating new roster of games. C'est dur!