Another Canadian province may soon avail itself of digital sports betting and online casino gambling as Ontario did two years ago. Alberta is signaling it will be the next gaming market in the Great White North and it will have no shortage of operators looking to compete.
New Northern Frontier
Ontario’s mobile sports betting and iGaming market launched in April 2022 but now another province, Alberta, may be opening up to the lucrative revenue streams that have become so popular in the nation’s most populated market. Although Alberta has nearly 4.1 million residents, well short of Ontario’s 12.85 million, it is still Canada’s fourth most populous province and one that gaming operators are eager to enter.
The province has said it wants to launch a digital gaming market open to private operators “sooner than later”. There is still much work to be done according to Brandon Aboultaif, press secretary to Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction. “Although we have not yet finalized a launch date, a timeline will be provided as soon as a decision is made,” said Aboultaif.
Betting Blueprint
The provincial government has already undertaken its due diligence, meeting with First Nations, racinos, and private platform operators to consider opinions from all factions.
“The insights and opportunities they’ve raised to enhance Alberta’s gaming sector have been incredibly valuable to us,” Aboultaif said. “As we develop our policy, we will continue to assess which model works best for our province as well and review best practices from other jurisdictions, including Ontario.”
Operators Eager
Alberta currently has its Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) govern Play Alberta, the only online gaming site in the province. However, another provincial entity would likely oversee the private operators once they are allowed to launch. First Nations, which is involved in the land-based casino business in Alberta will also have a stake in the online market much like in Ontario.
Minister Nally said: “It’s going to be very similar to Ontario. We’re following their model as they built the roadmap. We’ll massage it a little bit, but it’s been inspired by the experience in Ontario. It’s going to be an open and free market.”
Rolling the Dice on Alberta
Although Penn Entertainment has struggled in the U.S. mobile sports betting market with its ESPN BET, the company’s waters have been much calmer in the north with theScore, a sports media app and betting platform that it purchased in October 2021 for $2 billion in cash and stock.
Penn CEO Jay Snowden was asked when he believed the Alberta launch would manifest to which he stated, “We don’t have an exact date on Alberta, and I don’t want to speak obviously for the government or the regulators there. But I would say, we’re thinking sometime towards the end of this year, early 2025 is kind of the rough timeframe.”
Alberta is expected to generate $700 million in gaming revenue per year and according to a Citizens JMP Securities analysis, that would make it the eighth-largest gaming market in North America.
