Paddy Power signs 3-year Canadian lottery agreement
Irish operator signs its first-ever North American deal in Canada's second-largest egaming market.
Paddy Power has moved into North America after signing a three-year agreement with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC).
Under the terms of the agreement, Paddy Power will supply product, pricing and risk management services for BCLC’s OpenBet-powered sportsbook PlayNow.com from summer 2012. BCLC, the only operator permitted to offer sports betting in the province, becomes Paddy Power’s first lottery partner, and its first North American client.
Canada does not currently allow single bets, meaning customers are required to bet on at least two events at once, due to concerns that allowing players to bet on single events could incite match fixing and damage the integrity of sports.
However, a private members bill was introduced by MP Joe Comartin with the support of the Canadian Gaming Association on 28 September to allow customers to bet on single events. This would vastly increase the value of the sports betting market in British Columbia, Canada’s second-biggest egaming province, should it be passed.
The agreement is similar to Paddy’s deal with former French horse betting monopoly PMU, whom it supplies with fixed-odds risk management and trading tools for its sportsbook. The company’s B2B operations have grown significantly in 2011, with gaming and B2B revenues growing 33% in its interim management statement for 1 July to 14 November.
The operator is also positioning itself for entry into the United States, reportedly submitting license applications to become a manufacturer and distributor of gaming equipment, and an operator of mobile gaming systems and handheld devices in the state of Nevada in August this year.
Paddy Power CEO Patrick Kennedy (pictured) commented that he was “delighted” to have signed the deal: “Today’s announcement is a further endorsement of our product and partnership capabilities. As the global online market continues to regulate, these qualities continue to position us strongly for future international expansion”
The BCLC agreement is the company’s second significant deal since the departure of COO Breon Corcoran, who will join Betfair as CEO in August 2012, after it acquired Bulgarian software developer Cayetano Gaming in November.