#BetOntario Campaign Launched To Support Wagering Within Province

Officials at Ontario Racing have launched the new hashtag #betontario in an effort to encourage those that live in the Canadian province to wager on races from Ontario. Ontario Racing is encouraging horseplayers to make use of the hashtag across social media.

According to a release from Ontario Racing, Home Market Area (HMA) wagering is the primary source of funding for critical horse breeding programs, but it has declined by 12.6% over the course of the last two fiscal years and dropped 6.5% from $733 million to $686 million in the last fiscal year alone. The decline has already led to a decrease in funding for programs under the Horse Improvement Program (HIP) managed by Ontario Racing. HIP supports the breeding and racing of Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and Quarter Horses. HMA wagering accounts for about 60% of all HIP funding.

Andrew Gaughan, the independent chair of Ontario Racing, said that the advent and proliferation of online sports and casino betting platforms has had a negative impact on horse racing.

“HMA wagering is under competitive siege from the advent and proliferation of advertising and aggressive player marketing from well-funded and deeply capitalized licensed digital gaming operators in Ontario and this decline in HMA wagering in the last two years amounts to an annualized loss of about $11-12 million of horse racing industry income,” Gaughan said. “It means we have had to trim about $3 million annually from the respective HIP programs and budgets in addition to the industry income loss.”