Major League Baseball has its first Ontario sports betting partner.
MLB and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. announced a partnership Thursday. The deal makes OLG’s ProLine+ the league’s first official sportsbook partner in ON sports betting.
“As we continue exploring additional avenues to engage our fans around the world through sports betting, we need to find creative, knowledgeable partners in their respective regions,” MLB EVP of Business Development Kenny Gersh said in the announcement. “With OLG, we have a trusted partner in Ontario with a vision to help us grow.”
MLB Ontario partnership details
With the agreement, OLG gains distribution rights to MLB logos and cross-promotion on the league’s digital and social channels. There will also be free-to-play digital games introduced throughout the baseball season as part of the deal.
Earlier this year, the National Football League and National Hockey League entered similar agreements with OLG.
“Teaming up with a world-class organization like the MLB enables OLG to create exciting, one-of-a-kind interactive experiences for baseball fans at the game and on ProLine+,” OLG Chief Digital and Strategy Officer Dave Pridmore said in the release. “The true value of this partnership for OLG is the way it will bring ProLine customers even closer to the game they love in ways they’ve never experienced before.”
Blue Jays Ontario sports betting deal
While the league saddles up with the provincial lottery, the Toronto Blue Jays partnered with theScore Bet earlier this year for Canada sports betting.
“Teaming with the Blue Jays opens up exciting new exclusive marketing opportunities and brings theScore Bet even closer to a huge audience of passionate and engaged fans, both on-site at Rogers Centre and online across our platforms,” theScore CEO John Levy said at the time.
The deal includes a theScore-branded sports bar and restaurant at the team’s stadium in downtown Toronto.
Ontario sports betting in full swing
ProLine+ launched single-event sports betting in August 2021. Commercial sportsbooks, including theScore Bet, started operating April 4 in Ontario.
There are 27 commercial gaming sites live in Ontario, according to iGaming Ontario‘s website.
To date, little information is available about their performance. During conferences in Toronto last week, Ontario regulators said multiple times that a revenue report is coming soon.
