TORONTO — The NHL and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. are joining forces.
The two organizations announced a multi-year partnership Wednesday that marks the NHL's first sports-betting partnership in Canada. Last month, the OLG signed a five-year deal with the NFL to become its first official sportsbook partner in Canada.
The OLG becomes an NHL partner for sports betting on both its Proline+ digital sports platform and the new Proline product at retail lottery outlets across Ontario. The OLG also receives distribution rights to the NHL's official logos and cross-promotion across league digital and social channels.
"This is a multi-year partnership so we have the ability to collaborate and bring some really cool experiences to customers to really integrate the betting and fandom world of being an NHL fan but also integrating that into betting," said Dave Pridmore, the OLG's chief digital and strategy officer. "A partnership with a world-class organization like the NHL will help complement the ultimate sports betting experience for hockey fans on Proline+ and Proline at retail, where our players can execute legal single-event wagers and other unique bets on a sport they love."
Pridmore said the agreement with the NHL will provide fans with more betting options.
"We still have money lines on the actual game, our over-under on the score of the game," Pridmore said. "But we have so many proposition bets like, 'Who's going to score first. Do we have opportunities (where) the Leafs are going to score over this many goals in a game. When is the time of the first goal going to occur.'
"We have a lot of new bets that just create a different type of opportunity of betting for our customers."
And the more options fans have, Pridmore said, the more likely they're to remain engaged in games.
"I think having the generic win-lose bet can sometimes be a little bit too straightforward," he said. "If your team is losing significantly, it kind of takes the fun out of the game right away if you know that you've lost that game already whereas you might have a bet on the score at the third period only.
"The options are much more plentiful to really enhance the way you want to watch and consume an NHL game with Proline and this partnership is just going to create more opportunities to have integration with the NHL to create more experiences to our customers."
Proline+ will also be the presenting sponsor of the NHL pre-game of the league's Heritage Classic outdoor contest Sunday between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres at Tim Hortons Field.
"As a leading gaming entertainment operator for more than four decades with an excellent track record in Ontario, OLG is an ideal partner for the NHL to begin our transformative entry into this space in Canada and to further engage our avid Canadian fan base," Kyle McCann, the NHL's senior vice-president, North American business development, said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2022.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
