The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has recently concluded its search for an operator for its Windsor casino. After a competitive procurement process of sifting candidates, the Crown has selected Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited.
About Caesars and Its Subsidiary
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s biggest gaming and hospitality companies. It operates over 50 properties in the U.S. and internationally. Its Canadian subsidiary, Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited, is a wholly owned entity responsible for managing day-to-day operations at Caesars Windsor on behalf of the OLG.
Caesars Retains the Rights
The wholly owned subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment will now remain in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Windsor casino in the Windsor Gaming Bundle. Under the most recent agreement, the private company will conduct those operations on behalf of the state-owned OLG for around twenty years.
OLG predicts that the transition to the new agreement would be completed at the start of next year. Despite some changes in the name, Caesars has been the operator of the gambling location for over 30 years.
Who’s the OLG?
For those unaware, legal gambling operations in Canada are divided by provinces. In Ontario, the OLG is the agency that offers fun yet legal casino products. It conducts and manages land-based casinos, sales of lottery games, iGaming, bingo and other electronic gaming products at Charitable Gaming Centres. It also supports the local horse racing industry.
Since 1975, the Crown agency and its gambling operations have delivered over CA$62 billion to the province. These funds aid healthcare, treatment and prevention of problem gambling, and support amateur sports. Every year, OLG’s profits are channelled towards host communities like Windsor, First Nations, lottery retailers and charities in the province.
Timeline Extended to Support Competitive Search
It should be mentioned that in August 2022, OLG extended its operating agreement with Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited for an additional year. Hence, the expiration date was moved to August 2025.
The extension allowed OLG to further prolong the term by a minimum of six months and up to a maximum of 12 months. Essentially, putting the deadline to August 2026. Then, in the summer of 2024, OLG resorted to this option, extending the contract by an extra seven months to March 2026.
OLG imposed these extensions to make sure that there was enough time to conduct a competitive procurement process and find a highly qualified operator for its Windsor casino.
The process was designed to be open, fair, and transparent, with oversight from an impartial Fairness Monitor.
Launching the Procurement Process
OLG announced that it would be looking for a new operator of the Windsor site in 2023. This kicked off its procurement process to find the best suitor. It's a thorough process, and for the Crown corporation, it’s a crucial procedure.
To provide an open, fair, and transparent procurement process, OLG relied on help from an impartial Fairness Monitor, which offered advice throughout the search for an operator, while also providing oversight on the fairness of the procurement.
Leadership Perspective
When the OLG started the request for pre-qualification process in April 2023, its President and CEO, Duncan Hannay, shared a few words on what would be the most suitable candidate:
“OLG is advancing plans that will support the long-term vibrancy and excitement of the casino experience in Ontario. Releasing the RFPQ for the Windsor casino is the first step in selecting a highly qualified service provider that will ensure the long-term competitiveness of the site while continuing to generate economic benefits for the local community and for Ontario.”
Continuing with Caesars
In its latest announcement, OLG confirmed that Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited was picked to continue as the operator of the Windsor location. The private company will be in charge of the day-to-day gaming operations at the site.
Meanwhile, OLG will still be responsible for conducting and managing gambling at the property and ensuring that the service provider complies with high standards of OLG’s Responsible Gambling program.
Benefits for the City of Windsor
As an extension of the recent agreement, OLG will also continue to honour its Municipality Contribution Agreement and share a portion of the casino’s revenue with the City of Windsor. Since the opening of the casino in 1994, the Crown has contributed over CA$131 million in quarterly payments to the city for hosting the casino.
Job Security and Employee Transition
As part of the new contract, OLG also mandates that Caesars must keep the current casino employees for at least 18 months. This is due to the employee transitions to service providers at all other casinos across Ontario via brick-and-mortar gaming modernisation. At the same time, unionised staff will be dependent on their collective agreement terms.
OLG’s Broader Modernisation Strategy
Transferring the day-to-day operations of its casinos to private sector companies is not unusual for OLG. Via its Land-Based Gaming modernisation, the Crown has already awarded the operations of gaming sites to third-party service providers in eight other gaming bundles.
These gaming bundles are groups of one or more gaming zones, or geographical areas where a single casino property is based. As of writing, these operators have invested over CA$2.5 billion in provincial communities, which supports economic growth and boosts contributions to the province.
OLG is devoted to continuing efforts and working with brick-and-mortar gaming partners to support the long-term well-being of the provincial gambling scene.
