In an interview with Lottery Daily, Tracy Parker, Director of Standards and Accreditation at the Responsible Gambling Council, discusses the impact of the Ontario igaming market launch on Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
OLG has enjoyed a dominant market position in Ontario since its inception in 1975, however, this is now under threat as swarms of operators flock into the province following the opening of the igaming and online sports betting market.
Despite this, Parker – who worked with the social responsibility team at OLG for six years – believes that the corporation will adapt to the new market conditions. She cited its large size and its ability to innovate as key reasons why it will be ‘very exciting’ to see how OLG moves in the future.
Parker detailed: “It’s definitely a situation to watch for everybody. Everyone’s really curious to see how that will play out.
“OLG is a very large, complex organisation. They work across multiple different lines of business, AI gaming, as well as land-based charitable gaming and lottery. They’re very innovative. They’ve been working in the industry across all those lines of business and with gaming in the grey market for quite a while.
“I have no doubt that they will continue to adapt and evolve as a very dedicated team. They’re really knowledgeable, and are definitely watching how the whole industry evolved in Ontario.”
Parker also discussed how important undertaking research is when opening up a new market and establishing best practices to keep players safe. She noted that research is a ‘foundation’ of RGC and that evidence ‘is so important’ to driving policies.
She added: “The foundation of all the work that we do is in the research. So measuring player impact, the trends and evaluating best practices. The research and evaluation piece is so important in terms of that underlying evidence that then says that these are the right standards to have – these are the right practices to put in place.
“Those are the messages and the tips and the tricks for players. Evolving the player campaign to incorporate shifts in the player base. So if you’re talking to a different demographic, you’re needing to use digital tools as opposed to posters and brochures that you might have used in the past.
“That research helps us segment the messaging and reach out to different ethnocultural groups, for example. There’s definitely an approach to continuous improvement in the work. Knowing the messages and then how to communicate them is certainly part of the process.”
