(Montreal) Loto-Québec will always have two grips against it when the time comes to compete with illegal online gambling if the police forces and the federal legislator fail to withdraw the stick from these players or, at the very least, to take it out of their hands and put it in their wheels.
Loto-Québec’s new president and CEO, Jean-François Bergeron, addressed an audience of business people on Wednesday at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, when he made share of the Crown corporation’s difficulty in carving out a niche in the online gaming industry.
We are going to make our way, but there is public security, which must do its part; there is the federal government – because it is a criminal law – the federal government must also go its own way
Jean-François Bergeron, CEO of Loto-Québec
Mr. Bergeron, however, was careful not to throw stones at them: “We do not put pressure (on public safety and the federal government) because we are on the same team, but they are aware. There is work, ”he said, recalling in the same breath that everyone still has their hands full with the pandemic.
Offer just as illegal as it is plentiful
While the countless online gambling ads promote free gambling platforms – which is legal – they are all a gateway to a paid platform, which is not. However, the illegal offer remains more than abundant and these other players in the industry have an advantage, not being encumbered by the regulatory constraints that govern Loto-Québec’s offer.
This is called the “gray market”, he explained to his audience: “It’s half legal. The free game offer they are giving us through their TV advertising is legal. But we all know that their business model is not based on free play. It is the gambling game and that is not legal. ”
“With the exception of horse races and bingos, if it’s not Loto-Québec, it’s not legal. There is no ambiguity, ”he insisted.
Registration, a “tipping point”
Mr. Bergeron dwelled at length on the notion of simplification, both as a business model and as a condition for allowing his organization to prevail. One of the major constraints facing the online Crown corporation is the registration process: “You have to simplify the process when a client comes to us, with all the compliance. It’s complicated to open an account with us. It is a first tipping point for the players. ”
“It’s more than just opening an account and putting in a credit card. There are a lot of checks. There is Equifax which is behind the scenes and validates certain things. Age verification is more than just a “yes or no I am of legal age”. It is more than the market for illegal operators. They just want a credit card number, ”he argued.
“If it were a physical, terrestrial site, the stakes would not be the same. We would close the doors, that would be easy. It is less so on the web, ”he admits.
Compete despite everything
This does not prevent Loto-Québec from not letting go: “Loto-Québec is determined to compete with illegal operators. We must continue to do better, we must continue to improve our offer. If Loto-Québec does not take its place, others will, but it will not be with the same ethics, the same responsibility and certainly not for the benefit of Quebec, ”he argued.
But the game does not look easy. He takes sports betting as an example: “We are in the process of touring the sports teams who are also showing themselves off to these illegal operators to tell them: listen, it is true that the product they are offering on TV is legal, but now you know. Last year, two years ago, there was ambiguity about these business models. Now we know that gambling is not legal, and therefore there is a reputational problem. Organizations that continue to partner with them should consider reputational risks, because it is increasingly understood that these players are not legal. ”
In fact, Ottawa understood it, although a little late and only in part. Until recently, bets on a single match were not allowed; it was necessary to bet on combinations of matches: “It is only since last August 27 that the federal government authorized the provinces to do it. Before, it was a bet on several events. We weren’t allowed the simple bet, otherwise we would have done it a long time ago. Everyone was asking for it ”.
Thus, while waiting to be able to remove illegal players from the game, the legislator is seeking to give provincial crown corporations a more equal playing field, but there is still a long way to go for Canadian institutional players.