PointsBet Canada Agrees to Historic Ontario Temporary Shutdown Over NBA Scandal

PointsBet Canada has dropped its regulatory appeal and agreed to a two-day suspension of its Ontario gaming platform, settling a dispute with the AGCO over initial reporting errors in the Jontay Porter betting scandal.

A spokesperson for PointsBet Canada said Wednesday morning that the exact timing of the two-day shutdown has yet to be determined.

Porter Scandal Shook NBA

We reported on the Notice of Proposed Order against PointsBet Canada issued last February, in which the AGCO alleged that the iGaming operator failed to monitor, detect, document, and report suspicious betting patterns in 2024 connected to Porter.

Porter, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) player, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after deliberately exiting two NBA games in January and March 2024 while a member of the Toronto Raptors, collaborating with gamblers to cash in on prop bets on his individual statistics.

Porter was banned for life by the NBA in 2024. His sentencing has been postponed several times and is currently scheduled for December, where he faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, though federal guidelines suggest a significantly shorter term.

AGCO Cites Inaccurate Betting Reports

The AGCO based the suspension on delayed and inaccurate reporting after the regulator directed all Ontario sportsbooks in early 2024 to confirm whether they had offered bets on Porter and if they had detected suspicious betting activity.

The AGCO said PointsBet Canada initially told it that it had not offered bets on Porter.

However, following the October 2025 arrests of several individuals in a wider sports gambling investigation—including NBA player Terry Rozier and coach and former player Chauncey Billups—the regulator again put out a call to Ontario sportsbooks to review and confirm whether they had offered betting markets involving Porter and if they had detected suspicious activity.

PointsBet Reverses Initial Response

At that point, PointsBet Canada acknowledged it had offered betting on Porter markets during those games.

PointsBet Canada said the initial inaccurate response in March 2024 was caused by “human error during an organizational transition… not any intent to withhold information”.

PointsBet Canada said it would appeal the five-day Ontario suspension to the Licence Appeal Tribunal two weeks after the penalty was announced. A five-day hearing had been scheduled for Oct. 19, according to Canadian Gaming Business, but the parties negotiated the settlement.

Independent Audit Required Under Settlement

The settlement marks the first time an Ontario-regulated iGaming operator has agreed to temporarily shut down its gaming site as a regulatory penalty.

PointsBet Canada declined to provide further comment on the settlement terms Wednesday morning. The AGCO issued a brief statement on its website Tuesday announcing that the settlement had been reached.

According to the AGCO statement, PointsBet has agreed to conduct an independent audit using an auditor and methodology approved by the AGCO and to implement corrective measures to address any identified deficiencies. The AGCO added that all remedial actions must be independently verified.