Gaming News Canada Show

Long-time Friend of Gaming News Canada Phill Gray, the former trading lead at Sports Interaction, joined us for a lookahead on several levels into the business of sports betting and online gaming over the next 12 months.   Gray tackled the issues expected to be of the most hot-button variety across the Canadian and American gambling industries in 2026, including:   The  continuing c...

On the final episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming for 2025, GNC writer-in-chief Dave Briggs and Covers gaming industry senior correspondent Geoff Zochodne were our guests for a media roundtable on the year that’s been, and what lies ahead for 2026.   The conversation included a  record revenue month for Ontario’s legal operators in November with non-adjusted gr...

On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, Steve McAllister’s guest is the general counsel for Soft2Bet – owners of the Ontario-licensed ToonieBet brand – David Yatom-Hay.   Yatom-Hay, who previously worked at DraftKings and GamingTech, provided some thoughts and layers on ToonieBet’s past 12 months, which included partnership deals with the Canadian Football Le...

The  recent announcement  by the ruling government in the United Kingdom of tax rates – including a hike to 40% for remote gaming - for the gambling industry was met with an avalanche of reaction not only in the UK but other parts of the world with regulated gaming environments. So, we asked Dan Waugh of Regulus Partners – whose coverage of the international gambling landscape is a must-...

On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, Steve McAllister spoke with the two founders of Golden Camel, Ryan Magrum and Artie Baxter. Magrum, a former professional poker player, was flipping houses in Austin, TX., four-plus years ago when his wife said her husband needed to find something in his professional career to be passionate about. That led to a phone call to...

Since we started covering the business of sports betting and gaming almost five years ago, experts in the space have talked to us about exploiting the omnichannel opportunities. Among the operators which are delivering that combination of land-based and digital gaming is BetMGM.   Hence, the maiden appearance of chief revenue officer Matt Prevost on a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Sho...

When Martha Otton announced in the summer of 2024 that she was retiring as Executive Director of iGaming Ontario, there was thinking among different sectors of the province’s regulated igaming market that the organization’s Chief of Staff, Mitch Davidson, would be a great fit to move into the leadership role.   Instead, Davidson decided in August to get back into the policy game, this time as...

Count the Canadian Gaming Association among the entities in the business of sports betting and other forms of gambling that are riding the industry’s fast-moving train these days.   Hence, our rationale for bringing back on the Gaming News Canada Show, CGA president and CEO Paul Burns for a rapid-round episode of the podcast. Burns first addressed  last week’s decision by the Court of Ap...

To borrow a line from The Roastmaster Jeff Ross, the only thing John Levy has ever sugarcoated has been his morning bowl of Corn Flakes (Ed’s note. . . our tongue was securely fastened in our cheek while tapping the keyboard).   Levy was his usual candid self in his latest conversation with Steve McAllister on the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming. The original founder of Headl...

On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming, Adam Rosenberg and CJ Buskey joined our humble host with some news of the breaking sort around their newish business  Handigraphs .   After launching a dashboard back in June to lend a hand to bettors of baseball, Rosenberg and Buskey will start this week to offer NHL data/analytics/metrics/numbers/etc. to lovers o...

Some 50 days since joining iGaming Ontario as the president/CEO of the conductor and manager of the province’s competitive sports betting and online gambling market, Joseph Hillier was our guest on the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.   Hillier, who  was introduced  as Martha Otton’s success at the end of August and joined iGO in early September, talked about the pr...

On the Monday morning after a somewhat-chaotic week in the businesses of sports, sports betting and gambling, we reconvened the media roundtable for a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.   Covers gaming industry beat reporter Geoff Zochodne, Steve Ruddock of the Straight to the Point newsletter and Gaming News Canada newsletter editor Dave Briggs joined your h...

Before making his maiden appearance at a Toronto Maple Leafs game – the regular-season opener against Les Canadiens de Montreal no less - Betty Canada CEO Chavdar Dimitrov returned to the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.   Dimitrov, the former engineering lead for Bede who was named the head honcho for Betty’s Canadian operations in the fall of 2024, provided his perspective...

Some two years ago, Quarter4 co-founder Kelly Brooks received a phone call from the CEO of FairPlay Sports Media (the business formerly known as Oddschecker Global Media), Stuart Simms, who wanted to explore acquiring the Waterloo, ON sports data/analytics/prediction company. When the sale was completed and announced in January 2024, Brooks became FairPlay’s Chief Product Officer and co-founder Da...

For more than three decades, Colin Cole-Johnson has worked for some of the biggest brands in the global gaming industry. . . . Ladbrokes, William Hill and Entain. For more than three and half years now, Cole-Johnson has led the Bede Gaming business. For the first time, Bede’s chief executive officer appeared on a podcast, joining Steve McAllister on the latest episode of the Gaming News Canada Sho...

The President/CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, Paul Burns, found time after a busy September of planes, panels, summits, forums and the like to have a lengthy conversation with Steve McAllister on a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show presented by Bede Gaming.   Among the topics du jour:   Burns’s appearance in New York last week at the Betting Gambling Forum during the lat...

The Labour Day weekend was still in our rearview mirror (although we had to squint to see it. . . ) when  Absolutebet Corp announced  it had been given the green light by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to get its licence to thrill for iGaming Ontario and join the province’s highly competitive sports betting and online gaming market.   So, we invited the co-founder and...

On the heels of  announcing the launch of a new data destination for sports fans, fantasy players and folks who live to lay a wager, StatRankings founder and CEO Kevin Adams was our guest on the Gaming News Canada Show.   The founder of FTN Network and a former financial advisor and owner of a California hair salon franchise, Adams had a chin wag with Steve McAllister about converting hi...

As the  Northern Super League  enters Week 21 of its inaugural season, we caught up with the President of the new Canadian professional women’s soccer fold, Christina Litz.   Litz, who’s spent time at the Canadian Football League head office, Woodbine Entertainment and True North Sports and Entertainment during his career in the sports industry, talked about her journey from law sch...

Some 3 ½ years into Ontario’s regulated online gambling industry, 51 operators (including the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation/OLG) are doing business with less than a half-dozen departures since the market launched in April 2022.   We’ve been told by several sources that more operators are a coming to perhaps the most competitive regulated marketplace on the planet. And we know, becaus...

On a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show, we took a dive into the world of sports data and analytics (and sports betting) with the co-founder and chief executive officer of Odditt, Matt Bresler.   Our interview came on the heels of  last month’s announcement  the Las Vegas-based company had completed a successful fundraising round, with a helping hand from Vancouver entrepren...

When SportsGrid  made the decision last month to let go several of its sports wagering personalities, Jo Madden was among the departures. Being a free agent  hasn’t stopped  the hosts of a Cup of Jo  from continuing  to churn out the content on her on her Instagram and X accounts, especially during the countdown to the start of the NFL regular season in four weeks.  ...

Phill Gray, the former Head of Trading for Sports Interaction and gaming industry veteran, returned to a new episode of the Gaming News Canada Show and covered a smorgasbord of topics, including:   The latest report from iGaming Ontario,  which reflects  the ongoing popularity of online casino games with Ontarians playing on regulated websites/apps; Some thoughts and layers on the r...

Did you hear the one about the professional poker player who co-founded and became the chief operating officer of a lottery, bingo and gaming company?   Well, we hadn’t until seeing  an announcement  in early June of a new partnership between Random State and Oakville-based Delta Bingo & Gaming. That happened mere weeks after the Swedish-based business received its supplier’s li...

The dog days of summer they aren’t for the North American gaming industry, especially south of the border.   Hence, our motivation to get Saam Hafezi and Shawn Fluharty back on the Gaming News Canada Show this week. Fluharty, the head of government affairs for Play’n Go, has been busy in recent weeks with  his appearance  at the G7 Canada Brain Economy Summit’s forum on responsible...