A partner for all provinces: Bede Gaming CEO on the Canadian market
From the moment the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) supplied the first framework for legalised online gambling in Canada, the eyes of the iGaming world have become increasingly focused on the market as a goldmine of untapped potential; and for good reason too.
Swiftly shifting from a model that housed just one government-run operator to a thriving regulated online landscape packed with 50+ direct competitors, the province has established itself as one of the largest gambling markets in the world. In doing so, Ontario has not only shown the potential for legalised iGaming in Canada, but provided the blueprint for other provinces to follow as well.
Fuelled by the success and substantial online gambling revenues that AGCO’s approach has garnered, other provinces are casting envious eyes towards Ontario and wondering how they could achieve similar results. If, as now looks increasingly likely, Alberta decides to implement an equivalent framework, we could be on the cusp of a regulated online gambling explosion in Canada; and operators will understandably want to place themselves in a position to capitalise.
Of course, new opportunities invariably mean new challenges, and while other provincial governments may base their frameworks on Ontario’s winning example, it seems inevitable some differences will come into play. As such, operators could find themselves in a situation similar to that in the US where they’re required to navigate a patchwork of local regulations in order to stay compliant across the numerous legalised jurisdictions, so agility and adaptability will be crucial.
Whereas other platform and technology providers may find themselves coming into the country cold and learning as they grow, Bede has a wealth of experience working within the Canadian market. Our relationship with AGCO has been fostered over a number of years – stretching back to before the market opened for non-governmental operators in Ontario – and the learnings we’ve taken from this exchange ensure that we’re perfectly positioned for further expansion in Canada.
In every market that we operate in, Bede has seen cross-operator interest in sharing regulatory knowledge, so our time working with AGCO already provides us with a deep level of insight that can be leveraged and tailored to suit any new provincial requirements that might come into effect. Similarly, the reputation for trust and accountability that we’ve built through local partnerships in Ontario marks us out as a dependable partner and puts us in great stead to acquire the certifications that will allow operators to hit the ground running when it’s time for them to launch.
One specific example that springs to mind is our successful acquisition of Security Control Standard Level 2 certification from the World Lottery Association earlier this year. With Bede being very passionate about exploring how our pioneering platform technology can better support the advancement of the lottery industry, receiving such an endorsement from WLA further emphasises our commitment to doing so while also aligning with the highest industry standards.
Bede’s relationship with WLA has provided us with the ideal platform to showcase our capabilities and connect with some of the industry’s leading lights, and we hope to be able to double down on this position of strength by joining the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries group very soon. Given the overwhelming popularity of lotteries in Canada, being able to include ourselves as part of such a prestigious organisation will cement our expertise in this area and give us a big advantage when it comes to promoting the vertical in future.
Of course, be it lotteries, casino, sports betting or bingo, the primary strength of Bede’s offering is that we position ourselves as a true partner for success no matter what verticals our partners operate in. To us, this means aligning our strategies with customers’ strategic ambitions across all levels of our business so we continue to deliver an exceptional solution for long-term success.
Our tried and trusted partnership model provides an entirely flexible, adaptive approach that supports the strategic ambitions of each of our partners. We don’t believe there’s any one magic bullet that’s capable of delighting everyone, so rather than simply prescribing blanket solutions, we work one-on-one with partners to identify the areas where we can provide the greatest benefit, be that through our advanced platform offering, robust integration toolset, regulatory know-how or subject matter expertise. This way, no matter what challenges our customers face, Bede can find a solution that not only works specifically for them, but can also adapt as they continue to grow.
In an emerging market like Canada, the advantages of this approach are clear to see. By understanding customers’ market goals and the type of audience that they’re aiming to attract, we can conduct a thorough gap analysis to identify strategic opportunities and the best solutions to position them competitively from their day-one launch. This is, of course, hugely important, as gaining early shares in newly-opened markets like Alberta will be vital for long-term sustainability.
A key part of this strategy is to conduct a detailed review of the relevant regulatory and technical standards that are required for new market compliance. As mentioned previously, while it seems likely that provinces like Alberta will either adopt or attempt to align with the high standards set by Ontario and other international markets, there are also sure to be additional, jurisdiction-specific requirements that have the potential to trip up operators if they’re not properly prepared.
To assist with this, Bede pairs each customer with a compliance expert who can ensure close collaboration and proactiveness with incoming legislation, while fostering strong long-term relationships with regulators. These experts have a dedicated workstream within Bede’s roadmap to guarantee our platform is consistently updated to the latest standards and that all ongoing auditing, licensing and certification considerations are addressed. Naturally, the team also prioritise responsible gaming initiatives, helping us maintain integrity and support player health.
Beyond our compliance solutions, Bede also offers a range of services to ensure that every customer’s offering is relevant and uniquely tailored to each province they operate in. That is to say, both our platform and governance model are highly flexible and can be customised to suit unique customer needs. One thing to note about newly-opened markets where players have been less exposed to online gambling is that audiences tend to favour simplified experiences and game offerings, so our platform can be configured to provide the streamlined accessibility they crave.
It goes without saying that what has proved successful in a more mature online gambling market like the UK might not necessarily translate to a newly-opened province like Alberta, so we give our customers the flexibility to create a genuinely optimised experience no matter how many markets they operate in. One of the keys to this is understanding your target audience, and to achieve this, we supply rich downstream analytics capabilities that can be easily applied to a partner’s existing database to enhance their operations with better data-driven decision-making.
From financial analysis to player segmentation and real-time performance, our data intelligence not only captures all the key details partners need to optimise every area of their operations, but it can also be customised to suit the individual needs of each operator. This ensures that customers have the flexibility to take our feeds into their own tools or utilise our data reporting back office as they see fit, meaning that no two use cases are ever the same. We fully intend to further enhance these capabilities in the future to allow our partners to continue gaining even more meaningful insights. This is an area that we have been busy upgrading over the last year, so I’m looking forward to being able to share more exciting news about our data platform quite soon.
Again, with Canada being an incredibly diverse market with a large number of local differences from province-to-province, being able to quickly assess performance data and tweak strategies accordingly will undoubtedly prove crucial to both initial acquisition and long-term engagement. At Bede, we ensure this process is simple by making such information readily available to all our partners, allowing them to generate further business efficiencies and better support their players.
In terms of the Bede platform itself, we offer a powerful combination of out-of-the-box functionality and flexible third-party integration options, allowing us to easily adapt to each customer’s unique requirements.
Bede’s product management team works very closely with our customer operations teams to carry out regular feedback collection, research and development for how current services are being used and offer personalised advice on the capabilities of Bede’s full toolset. This way, we always know precisely what roadmap work will provide the best value for our partners going forward and can easily understand the feasibility of all planned work requests well ahead of time.
While our product team works closely with partners to ensure that they get the most value from our main feature set, we also have a full integration support team that provides the main technical point of contact between clients and third-party suppliers.
The integration support team liaises directly with customers to help them with every aspect of their integration into the Bede platform, thereby greatly assisting them with onboarding and technical set-up. In addition to supplying ongoing support to partners, the team also maintains a centralised documentation site to ensure all information is simple and self-serving. As the main challenge any operator faces when building up the front-end themselves is the knowledge required, this helps them make the most of our features and create a better end-user experience.
From a player safety perspective, if what we’ve seen from AGCO is anything to go by, other provincial governments in Canada are likely to employ similar industry best practice when it comes to both cyber security and data protection. With this important consideration in mind, Bede also provides ongoing technical expertise to partners throughout the duration of their relationship with us, ensuring that they can maintain the high standards expected of a trusted operator in the country.
In addition to providing expert advice on technological innovations and development projects, we’re particularly proactive about ensuring high-quality operations and code health, as well as data security, vulnerability prevention and emergency preparedness. By maintaining gold standards across each of these areas, we ensure that we’re doing everything possible to keep our customers’ data, assets and environments secure and compliant with local requirements, and we also regularly work with partners to suggest additional security enhancements for their sites.
Putting it all together, there are a lot of people involved in the Bede machine, and each of them plays a key function in delivering a truly end-to-end solution for our partners. With collaboration being such a huge part of our company culture, we’ve worked hard to establish a cross-functional team of experts that can simultaneously work directly with their own customer contacts to provide quick and personalised support, while also connecting with each other internally as well.
By setting things up this way, Bede ensures not only that there’s always a level of fluid interactivity throughout every stage of the customer relationship, but that this is also backed up by a cohesive in-house strategy that allows us to offer a unified and thorough package to each partner. Particularly in an emerging market like Canada where regulations are constantly shifting and compliance requirements are liable to differ from province-to-province, having such a strong network behind them helps partners stay agile and always be one step ahead of the competition. Of course, as the Canadian market continues to evolve, so too will the service Bede provides both there and on the global stage. In addition to all the partnership aspects we’ve covered in this article, we’re already working on a further offering that will not only include all our currently-available expertise, but also additional enhancement services such as consultancy and training that are available on request. With this being just another way Bede goes above and beyond to help customers achieve their ambitions, we’re not just a supplier – we’re your partner for success.