With the NHL season fast approaching, excitement for the league to resume play is already building in Ontario. And this week, another announcement broke to add even more excitement as BetMGM Casino, a leading sports betting and operator for Ontario online casinos, announced the launch of its National Hockey League-branded casino games, including roulette, blackjack, baccarat and the new live Money Wheel game, Dream Catcher.
All games are available to players in Ontario as well as three U.S. states where online casino games are legal: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
BetMGM, NHL Have Relationship
It is clear that this launch is designed to not only bolster the leading gambling company’s relationship with the NHL, but also to grab the attention, and hopefully engagement with the massive number of NHL fans using Ontario casino apps.
"The launch of these one-of-a-kind games further strengthens our relationship with the NHL," Oliver Bartlett, BetMGM's Director of Gaming, said in a news release. “As the season approaches, we're thrilled that our players will have the ability to 'drop the puck' with BetMGM."
The BetMGM Casino developed these games in collaboration with Evolution, featuring three-dimensional renderings. There is a live dealer version of each game available to players via the “go live” button. The games also will have each team’s logo in an arena setting to accompany the NHL logo.
The Dream Catcher game lets players wager on the number where they think the wheel is going to stop, with multipliers coming into play.
NHL Roulette offers realistic ball motions plus interactive results and statistics. With NHL Blackjack, players can move around a virtual table set inside an NHL arena. There’s a live casino aspect to the NHL Baccarat game as well. That’s part of the interactive aspect of BetMGM, which added a live dealer studio in Ontario earlier this year.
Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid Collaborating with BetMGM
BetMGM has clearly paid attention to its hockey fans, including a collaboration with NHL legend Wayne Gretzky that was announced before the launch of regulated gaming in Ontario on April 4. Along with FanDuel, BetMGM was one of the first two sports betting partners of the NHL in North America.
The release of these new casino-style games is yet another step in increasing the popularity of the NHL. FanDuel and BetMGM both also receive custom content opportunities on official NHL media channels and NHL superstar Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers will also be incorporated into BetMGM’s marketing.
Ontario has been a key area of focus as it is the fifth largest North American iGaming and sport betting market, especially for NHL betting in a country where hockey is king. This is a busy time in the province, as the hometown Toronto Blue Jays are entering the MLB playoffs and NFL games remain as popular as ever for bettors.
With this being the first full NHL season to be played with a regulated betting market in Ontario the time has never been better for launching an innovative product like this.
