PointsBet Ontario and Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) on Wednesday announced a new multi-year agreement (commencing with the current 2021-2022 season), with PointsBet becoming the organization’s official sportsbook.
Skiing is going to be very much in the news over the next few weeks as the Winter Olympics in Beijing ramp up.
So while outside of PROLINE+, those interested in Ontario sports betting won’t be able to wager on skiing at the Olympics, the partnership deal comes shortly after the announcement of a launch date for a regulated, open sports betting market in the province. There will likely be a freestyle-like line of sponsorship partnership deals coming up.
The government announced Jan. 28 that an open, regulated iGaming market in Ontario would launch April 4.
Canada is Good at Skiing
Nic Sulsky, chief commercial officer of PointsBet Canada, probably remembers past Canadian downhill skiing stalwarts like Ken Read, Steve Podborski and Kerrin Lee-Gartner. In a statement Wednesday morning, he referenced someone from the next generation, who came after those pioneers.
“Having lived in Mont-Tremblant, I loved watching and cheering on world champions like Erik Guay," Sulsky said. “I cannot wait to cheer on the 21 skiers nominated to represent Canada at the Beijing 2022 Olympics and beyond, just like I did when the Canadian Cowboys were dominating the World Cup circuit.”
”The speed and excitement of ski racing is unparalleled, which is why we jumped at the opportunity to partner with Alpine Canada.”
Alpine Canada is the governing body for the national alpine, para-alpine and ski cross teams. ACA sits in the top-10 world ranking in alpine (No. 10), para-alpine (No. 3) and ski cross (No. 1) disciplines and houses the reigning Olympic gold medalists in men's and women's ski cross.
"PointsBet Canada is committed to bringing our nation's fans gold medal experiences, and we are excited to be partnering with our world-class Canadian skiers as they follow their dreams and represent our great country on the world stage," Scott Vanderwel, chief executive officer of PointsBet Canada, said in a statement.
Other Partnership Deals
Lately we’ve seen Betregal Online Casino Ontario announce similar sponsorship partnerships with the CFL and the PGA of Canada.
PointsBet Canada last year announced a partnership with Curling Canada. Interest in curling — and wagering on curling — should be high during the Winter Olympics that begin this week.
“It’s all about customer acquisition for those in the online space — casino or sports,” Paul Burns, president & CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, said. “Making connections and partnerships with those who have a database of potential customers.”
The interesting thing to watch going forward is if the types of sponsorships like the one announced Wednesday will be just limited to sports.
