It has been a long time since Mike Mirtl was back in his hometown of North Bay.
But the CEO of BetRegal is hoping to return and bring his sports gaming brand with him.
"Our office is here in Costa Rica, Malta and Curacao," explained Mirtl who left the banking industry for the offshore gaming industry 16 years ago.
"In total, we have about 200 people employed in customer contact and support, development and marketing roles."
Mirtl, who still owns property in North Bay, has already created a local business relationship with King Sportswear which is doing a bunch of promotional material for BetRegal which has recently created a business relationship with the CFL.
"My idea is to support the local economy however I can," Mirtl told BayToday.
He does not have a firm number on how many people he could employ if he opened a BetRegal Canada office in North Bay.
"What I would envision is we would set up some kind of contact centre in North Bay and I could employ - whether it stems from Nipissing University or people from the Canadore Athletic Department, or part-time employees - that would be ideal for me is to have sort of a home base and a place that we call home and where better than in my sort of backyard," he said.
"That is my idea, hopes, and expectations."
Mirtl hopes things can move forward as soon as 2022.
"We hope we can do that in relatively short order because again this legislation and this licensing process we expect before the end of the year that we will be able to have a license and be able to hit the ground running," he said.
See related: OLG launches single-event betting as federal legislation comes into effect
The window opened to try and move into the Canadian market when the federal government gave the green light for single sports betting. However, for Mirtl and his company to do that here, they need to be licensed in Canada.
"Ultimately the idea to be able to operate our business in Canada under license really allows us to spread our wings a little bit and that is what is exciting for us," he said.
Mirtl is planning a visit to the North Bay area looking to create some casino partnerships as he hopes to eventually bring his international company home.
