PARIS SMITH: ONTARIO IS THE PINNACLE OF OUR GLOBAL EXPANSION

SINCE THE ONTARIO MARKET OPENED ITS DOORS in April 2022, all eyes have been on Canada. We have seen many European and US companies look to get in on the action - sports betting operator Pinnacle has been no exception. Pinnacle CEO Paris Smith speaks with SBC Leaders about the expansion into Ontario, the golden opportunities this presents and the plans to celebrate 25 years of Pinnacle

SBC: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! So Pinnacle recently announced that it had received a licence to operate in Ontario - why was this market the next stop on your global expansion plan?

When you look at the Ontario market, perhaps a better question might be, how could it not have been our next stop? Ontario is a huge, sophisticated and active market and its opening in 2022 presented an amazing opportunity.

A chance to provide one of the largest jurisdictions in North America with the best betting opportunities and the exemplary customer service that Pinnacle clients have come to expect. There was too much potential not to get involved right from the start.

SBC: How does your offering differ from that in other markets such as Malta, Sweden and Italy? Are there any particular sports / markets that you see a heightened demand for?

PS: That’s a great question and something we were excited to explore once we got up and running in Ontario. We saw a strong interest in soccer (football), in large part thanks to the World Cup this past November/ December.

In Canada, hockey is king, so there’s been a lot of interest in our NHL offerings. But with the strong performance of Canada’s national soccer team leading up to the World Cup, it will be interesting to see if that heightened interest translates to increased action on MLS and other soccer leagues. Our expertise with North Americanbased sports made Ontario a key market to provide clients with a product that they are familiar with and also require from any operator.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ONTARIO MARKET, PERHAPS A BETTER QUESTION MIGHT BE, HOW COULD IT NOT HAVE BEEN OUR NEXT STOP?

We have seen a strong interest in basketball, baseball and American football. Part of this can be attributed to Ontario being home to the country’s only major league basketball and baseball teams – both of which have very strong followings.

Canada

and AGCO worked well and, based on the recent experience we received when we launched in Sweden and Italy, we were in a good place with Ontario. We have a lot of respect for the approach the regulators took to implement the licences.

Most, if not all, RG or auditing requirements we either had in place or were already in development. Having said that, internally we did spread the work over a small group of very talented individuals while we were in project mode, but in the last eight months we have hired a wide range of experts locally to address the growing needs in managing the Ontario market.

SBC: What were the biggest challenges when it came to acquiring an Ontario licence, given that the market has some tough legislative requirements?

PS: The Ontario licence application and meeting the requirements were not that difficult. The partnership with iGO

SBC: What role does educational content play in driving bettor engagement and also promoting responsible gambling measures?

PS: What’s the old expression, knowledge is power? Pinnacle is committed to responsible gaming and our aim is to empower bettors and help them become more knowledgeable. When a bettor feels more knowledgeable, we hope they will be more engaged and more comfortable with their decisions.

We feel that Pinnacle offers one of the most comprehensive collections of expert betting advice you’ll find online. With over 2,000 articles in our Betting Resource archive and six series on the Pinnacle Podcast, we are constantly working to better educate and engage with bettors regardless of their prior knowledge or experience.

SBC: There has been some talk about how sports betting operators can offer bonuses to players, given the restrictions on advertising in Ontario. How do you achieve that balance between generating brand awareness, standing out from the competition whilst also remaining compliant with the regulations?

PS: Although we are at the early stages of our Ontario marketing program, we will continue to do what we do best and the great news is that the Ontario market (and related regulations) create the best environment for us to tell the Pinnacle story and why players will benefit from having us on their roster of sportsbooks.

Since we don’t have to rely on bonus-heavy messaging or complicated promotions to attract players, we will continue to communicate the value to the players of having the best odds, highest limits, our Winners Welcome advantage as well as a responsible and secure platform.

You can’t buy a good reputation, it is something that must be earned, and we have spent a quarter century earning ours. Ultimately, we feel that’s the best branding, and as word gets out about what Pinnacle has to offer, we will find ourselves in a great spot in the Ontario market.

SBC: With that in mind, how is Pinnacle showcasing its “Winners Welcome” mantra to sports bettors in Ontario?

PS: The best way we can showcase it is to live it every day in the market. By subscribing to our “Winners Welcome” approach, we aren’t afraid of winners or sharp players, instead, we use those experiences to constantly learn and therefore improve our offerings and that ultimately is a win for bettors. When we entered the Ontario market, I said Ontario’s sports fans and bettors deserve the best betting opportunities, and that’s what we are delivering –great odds, high limits and excellent customer service. and as you know, in this business, that’s quite an achievement. We are very proud of what we have built and where we are going as an organisation and we are looking forward to celebrating our successes. I don’t want to spoil anything, but we definitely have some exciting plans in store as we get closer to the anniversary date in August.

It’s pretty simple for us at Pinnacle, if you win, we don’t limit you or remove you from the sports betting platform. I mean how frustrating is that to players in Ontario? Whether through our vast betting resources, content, podcasts or special editorial pieces we support players daily to become more knowledgeable and better informed and we reward you with being able to accommodate higher limits as you grow and industry-leading RG features.

What I can tell you about 2023 though, is that we have an exciting new Casino redesign, our first native mobile app, as well as many new player-requested features that are being added at a pace faster than we ever have before.

SBC: What are Pinnacle’s plans for 2023? Are there any new markets on the horizon?

PS: Well, 2023 is an exciting year for us as it’s Pinnacle’s 25th anniversary

With respect to markets, we are really excited about the prospect of adding new markets in 2023/24 and over the next three to five years in general. There are lots of encouraging developments coming out of Latin America and we don’t see that slowing down over the next two years. We believe that the LatAm-licensed online gambling revenue across 11 Latin American countries will reach US$4bn in the next two to three years. That number is significant as it means that it will grow over four times from today’s estimates. •