Pointsbet Ontario is building on its sports betting partnership with Curling Canada, announcing a deal Thursday with national champions Team Kerri Einarson and Team Kevin Koe.
“We are uniquely Canadian and want to support athletes and teams that embody our love for sports and the maple leaf,” PointsBet Canada CEO Scott Vanderwel said in a news release.
A source at PointsBet told OntarioBets.com that the deal gives the company an opportunity to work directly with each team to further build brand awareness and visibility. They’ll collaborate on social media content throughout the curling season. There will be opportunities to do more focused activations as the season goes on, the source added.
In the end, as a hyper-competitive Canadian market, especially the Ontario sports betting market, starts to take hold, when a regulated market opens up more in 2022, private operators like PointsBet are vying for an early edge to gain market share.
Online casinos Ontario, like the sports betting market, should launch in early 2022.
As the source added, PointsBet Canada is striving to build a uniquely Canadian operation. Curling is a sport deeply embedded in Canada’s identity. The sport is played in every province and territory, in 1,000 clubs, and is played by almost 2 million per year in Canada (pre-pandemic). There are over 300 hours of Curling Canada events on television each year, and the national championships for both men’s and women’s always score big ratings.
Deal With Curling Canada in Place
In October, PointsBet Canada announced it had signed to become the official Sports Betting Partner of Curling Canada. PointsBet was originally founded in Australia and is a fast-growing online gaming operator in the U.S.
“PointsBet has an incredible passion for curling and will grow our sport across Canada,” Einarson said in the release. The skip is the two-time reigning national women’s champ.
Koe is a two-time world champion, four-time Canadian champion and was skip of the Canadian men’s team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“Our sport is evolving and fans are interacting with us in new and exciting ways. PointsBet’s collaboration will take curling to the next level,” he said in the release.
The men’s championship, the Tim Hortons Brier, will be March 4-13 at the ENMAX Centre in Lethridge, Alberta. The women’s championship, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, will be Jan. 28 to Feb. 6, at Fort William Gardens, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
“We are focused on continuing to build meaningful relationships with partners that Canadian sports fans know and trust,” Vanderwel added. “We see this as a critical part of introducing our brand and values to the market and building the consumer confidence necessary to create a level playing field in the responsible, licensed and regulated gaming market.”
