Major League Baseball Inks First Canadian Sports Betting Partnership

Less than three months after the launch of legal sports betting in Ontario, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has announced a partnership with Major League Baseball to make its ProLine+ the first Canadian sportsbook to be an official MLB partner. 

MLB becomes the third professional league to partner with ProLine+

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Major League Baseball announced a multi-year partnership agreement to make ProLine+ the official sportsbook of MLB. The deal grants ProLine+ access to the league’s logos for promotional purposes, and earns them cross promotion across MLB’s social channels and other digital properties. Major League Baseball follows in the footsteps of the NHL and NFL who both signed similar partnership agreements with ProLine+ earlier this year.

As a government sanctioned company, ProLine+ got a head start on their Ontario competition. They were legally allowed to take bets beginning in August of 2021, while their commercial competition was forced to wait until April of 2022 before they could get in on the action. This partnership further strengthens their stronghold as one of Ontario’s top sportsbooks, and ensures that they will have maximum name recognition among Blue Jays fans and other Ontario baseball enthusiasts.

Dave Pridmore, Chief Digital Strategy Officer for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation said “Teaming up with a world-class organization like the MLB enables OLG to create exciting, one-of-a-kind interactive experiences for baseball fans at the game and on ProLine+. The true value of this partnership for OLG is the way it will bring ProLine customers even closer to the game they love in ways they’ve never experienced before.”

The Blue Jays are already in on the action

ProLine+ is the first Canadian book to score a deal with MLB, but it’s only the second baseball-related partnership as earlier this month the Blue Jays announced their partnership with theScore Bet. That partnership was a natural one due to theScore Bet’s Toronto roots, and the company also announced that they are pulling out of the US market in the interest of focusing 100% of their attention on the newly legal Ontario market. MLB is also already partnered with a number of US-based online gambling sites in similar arrangements.

The long term impact of partnership deals remains to be seen, but in the short run deals like this have worked out well on both sides. Fans get the benefit of various perks, including promotional offers, premium on-site lounge areas to relax and place wagers, and exclusive game experiences. Sportsbooks get the ability to market to an attractive audience, and the teams and leagues benefit from the influx of marketing dollars as well as the ability to increase their engagement with fans.

Battle lines drawn in a competitive market

According to the official website of iGaming Ontario, there are 27 sportsbooks already live in the province. With so many companies competing for market share, any available advantage can prove extremely valuable.

ProLine+ has put themselves in a great spot by partnering with three major professional sports leagues, ensuring they will have direct access to get their name in front of their most likely potential customers.

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