GeoComply Solutions Inc., a leading tech company based in Vancouver B.C. which provides geolocation services to many legal sports betting sites in Ontario, has highlighted the growing desire for legal sports betting in Quebec. The company recently opened an office in Toronto. As a part of its grand opening, GeoComply released data about its ongoing work in Ontario.
This data was intended to advertise to Ontario sports betting sites how effective GeoComply’s services are, but many keen eyes have noticed that it really shows just how much Quebecers want legal sports betting in their province.
Article Highlights:
- Quebecers have attempted to visit legal sports betting sites in Ontario over 100,000 times since the start of the 2023-24 NFL season.
- There is a massive demand from customers to be able to legally bet on sports in Quebec.
- Quebec lawmakers appear to not be on board with legal sports betting in the province.
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More than 100,000 attempts to visit Ontario sports betting sites from Quebec
According to GeoComply, Quebecers have attempted to visit legal sports betting sites in Ontario over 100,000 times since the start of the 2023-24 NFL season. GeoComply knows this because their job is to block people from outside Ontario from visiting Ontario sports betting sites.
When someone outside of Ontario attempts to visit a site, the company records this information. This data can be used for market research or just to advertise GeoComply’s services.
GeoComply’s biggest customers are DraftKings, BetMGM, FanDuel, and Caesars, so their data comes from players attempting to visit those sites in Ontario. This means that, theoretically, many more people in Quebec could have tried to visit other Ontario sports betting sites.
It is also possible that many of these pings came from Ontario residents temporarily in Quebec. On the other hand, 6,000 of those 100,000 requests came from users using IP spoofing services such as VPNs, which more likely than not means those users are not based in Ontario.
Whatever the case, 100,000 requests is a huge number, and it is likely indicative of a huge demand for legal sports betting in Quebec.
iGaming giants pushing for legal sports betting in Quebec
If GeoComply’s data is correct, there is a massive demand from customers to be able to legally bet on sports in Quebec. Demand is coming from the supplier’s side of things in Quebec too.
Earlier this year, some of the biggest names in the sports betting industry joined together to form the Québec Online Gaming Coalition (CQJL). The Coalition’s goal is to open the legal sports betting market in Quebec. Specifically, they want Quebec to adopt a similar system to the Ontario sports betting market.
The CQJL contains representatives from DraftKings, Betway, Bet99, as well as from the parent companies of BetMGM Sportsbook, FanDuel, and BetRivers. So far, their efforts have fallen on deaf ears.
Quebec government unlikely to adopt legal sports betting
Despite the apparent demand, Quebec lawmakers appear to not be on board with legal sports betting in the province.
The last time the CQJL was in the news was when the NBA, MLS, and CFL came out in support of its efforts. In response to this, Loto-Québec spokesperson Renaud Dugas came out firing against the Coalition, the sports leagues, and the idea of legal sports betting in Quebec.
Dugas told the leading French-language Quebec newspaper Le Soleil that the NBA, MLS, and CFL should “question themselves about the [CQJL’s] true intentions.” He then implied that the CQJL is illegally offering bets in Quebec. He specifically accused CQJL members of “illegally offering games to Quebecers.
Based on Dugas’s comments, we do not expect legal sports betting in Quebec to come any time soon.
Julian Miller is a Canadian writer and an avid sports fan. He has years of experience in the iGaming industry, having started writing while completing his university studies in Montreal, Quebec. In 2022, he graduated, and has since been working full-time in the iGaming space. He has a particular fondness for the English Premier League — though he also has plenty of experience covering football, basketball, and other sports.