ToonieBet Strengthens its Ontario Presence with CFL’s Hamilton-Tiger Cats Deal

Soft2Bet’s Ontario-facing legal sportsbook has announced an exclusive multi-year partnership deal with 15-time Grey Cup champions, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  

The partnership world just got a whole lot more crowded in Ontario’s sports betting scene. ToonieBet, Soft2Bet’s Ontario-focused sports betting arm, has inked a significant multi-year deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

The arrangement grants ToonieBet several perks, including:

• Naming rights to the club level at Tim Hortons Field
• Dedicated activation zones throughout the venue
• Integrated marketing muscle across the Ticats’ entire social media ecosystem
• Game day experiences, which include fan contests and promotional campaigns

ToonieBet will be woven into the fabric of how Hamilton’s football fans experience their team throughout the season.

Daniel Madmon, who leads ToonieBet’s Canadian operations, framed the deal as a pivotal moment for the brand’s expansion strategy. 

“We’re not just seeking visibility,” he essentially explained. “We’re looking to become part of what makes game day feel special for supporters across Ontario. From the moment fans enter the stadium through every digital touchpoint during the season, we want to be there.“

Why This Deal Matters Right Now

The Tiger-Cats partnership represents a calculated next move for a brand that’s already become surprisingly prominent across Canadian sports. 

ToonieBet operates under the name it does, which references the Canadian two-dollar coin, as a deliberate nod to its domestic focus. Since securing its Ontario gaming license in 2024, the sportsbook has methodically built relationships across the country’s sports landscape.

The operator already holds league-wide partnership status with the CFL itself, a position it grabbed in summer 2025. That agreement came with some serious perks, including:

• Access to official league data
• Ability to offer CFL-branded casino games
• Designation as an official partner of last November’s Grey Cup championship game

The integration also proved remarkably effective. According to issue 37 of the SBC Leaders Magazine, the company’s Chief Product Officer, Yoel Zuckerberg, revealed that when ToonieBet placed live odds directly on the CFL’s official websites, it generated a 63% jump in search engine traffic. It also more than tripled brand recognition among sports fans surveyed.

Previously, ToonieBet had served as the exclusive online casino partner for the Ottawa Senators. Earlier this year, the brand sponsored Rock League Curling’s inaugural season. These moves paint a picture of a company strategically positioning itself as the ideal Canadian operator, targeting provinces one at a time.

The Tiger-Cats arrangement exists separately from the broader CFL partnership, yet naturally amplifies it at the local level. Soft2Bet’s leadership has characterized this as “the next chapter” in ToonieBet’s commitment to becoming a trusted voice within Canadian sports culture.

The Alberta Factor Changes Everything

Here’s where things get interesting for the brand’s next phase of growth.

ToonieBet appears on Alberta’s roster of approved iGaming operators ahead of that province’s commercial online gambling launch on July 13. David Yatom Hay, Soft2Bet’s General Counsel, hinted that the company sees substantial opportunity in replicating its sports partnership strategy across the border.

“When you’re launching into a new market, trust and familiarity aren’t luxuries. They’re foundations,” Yatom Hay essentially noted when discussing the company’s Alberta plans. The implication is clear: expect ToonieBet to pursue similar strategic sports relationships in Alberta that mirror what they’ve accomplished in Ontario.

The operator joins other major betting platforms already integrated with the CFL ecosystem. FanDuel holds a partnership status, while theScore Bet recently became the presenting partner of both CFL Fantasy and the official CFL mobile application.

As the sports betting landscape continues fragmenting across Canadian provinces with different regulatory timelines, operators like ToonieBet are discovering that geography-specific partnerships are essential infrastructure for building credibility in unfamiliar markets. The Tiger-Cats deal signals that this playbook is working, and Soft2Bet intends to keep running it.