STX Officially Enters Ontario iGaming Market

STX, a sports betting exchange, has officially launched its app in Ontario. This marks the official entry of this new company into Ontario’s burgeoning iGaming Market. The exchange launched as the first licensed sports betting exchange in Ontario on July 26, bringing a unique form of sports wagering along with it to gamblers in the province.

As the Market becomes more crowded, STX stands out among the more than 30 legal online sports betting sites currently operating in Ontario. It is a chance for sports bettors to try something new and get experience with a sports betting exchange.

Who Is STX?

STX offers real-time trading markets in the sports betting industry. It received approval and licensing from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, making it the first province in which STX has been awarded an official licence.

STX differs from the traditional sports betting market by taking a different approach. Rather than offering odds as a normal sportsbook, STX has a full-fledged sports betting exchange. This unique concept has allowed it to become a pioneer in the Ontario sports betting marketplace.

Rapid Growth in Exchanges

Sports exchanges are not a new thing but have been growing rapidly. STX is among the big names in the industry that are seeing their presence grow larger. There are betting exchanges coming to the United States in both Illinois and New Jersey, lending to the rapid growth of betting exchanges across North America.

STX has positioned itself to be a pioneer in the Canadian Market. The Ontario sports betting market is one of the largest in Canada. As the first licensed exchange in Ontario, it gives STX a leg up on the competition and true separation from the litany of sportsbooks that are currently saturating the marketplace.

As it stands, Ontario is currently the second jurisdiction in North America to offer exchange betting, joining New Jersey. As mentioned, Illinois is in the process of bringing it to Market as well.

What is A Betting Exchange?

For anyone who has wagered at a sportsbook before, there are odds attached to every bet type. Be it money line, totals, spread, or player props; the user pays the sportsbook operator a small fee in order to use that platform to make those bets.

That is where a sports betting exchange, also known as peer-to-peer betting, changes things. In a sports betting exchange, customers are allowed to bet against one another rather than the operator. This results in much lower fees for the end user compared to traditional sportsbooks.

The two customers agree to both the odds and the stakes for a particular game before the bet is placed. Normally, you might bet $110 to win $100 on the Toronto Maple Leafs to win outright. With the exchange, customers post that $100 bet and need only for another customer to take the action.

Because of the much lower overhead compared to traditional bookmakers, they charge lower fees. Sportsbooks take between 5 and 10%, depending on the operator. Those fees are much lower at an exchange, resulting in greater savings for customers.

The Pros and Cons of Sports Betting Exchanges

The real interest is whether sports betting exchanges like STX can grow to match the heavyweights of the sports betting industry. Names like BetMGM, Bet365, DraftKings, and FanDuel continue to dominate the marketplace as the most recognized names in the sports betting industry.

Those traditional bettors will likely retain casual customers who don’t really care about price and tend to focus more on futures, parlays, and props. The appeal will be to more hardcore bettors who stick to markets like point spreads in the NFL betting. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of sports betting exchanges.