Commercial online gambling is coming to Alberta, and a queue is forming outside the door.

The province’s legislature passed Bill 48 and the iGaming Alberta Act received Royal Assent in May. It is going to be a while yet before it launches, as designing and developing the market, consulting with stakeholders and drafting regulations is the meat of the issue and it will take months.

But whenever the government is ready to press play, numerous sportsbooks and online casinos will be ready and waiting to step through the door.

BetMGM looks to capitalize on hockey familiarity

BetMGM has been a prominent operator in Ontario since the market opened. CEO Adam Greenblatt noted at the end of April that it is the province’s market leader in online casino and is also growing market in sports betting.

In Alberta, the brand sees a chance to make an instant impact. “Alberta should play to BetMGM’s strength given its operations in Ontario,” Greenblatt said on an earnings call on April 29. 

“That should be a province where BetMGM really does flex its muscles.”

BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt

“Alberta has a distinct sports and gaming culture and we see the potential for Alberta to become a key omnichannel market for us,” the brand’s VP of Canada, Scott Woodgate, told Canadian Gaming Business in an interview last year.

BetMGM uses arguably the two greatest Edmonton Oilers of all time, Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid, as brand ambassadors, something which could give the sportsbook an edge when it comes to competition for customers in the province.

“It’s a great hockey market,” Woodgate noted. “And we’ve obviously gotten into business with a couple of guys from Alberta, so we see the appeal.”

theScore owner PENN: Alberta can be top-three market

Another operator which has competed strongly in Ontario since day one is theScore, a made-in-Toronto legacy sports brand now run by PENN Entertainment that now offers online sports betting and casino via multiple apps in its home province.

Meanwhile, theScore’s sports news and media app is used by Canadian sports fans from coast to coast, giving it a significant active user base.

PENN CEO Jay Snowden said on a call in February that he expects Alberta to be a top three or four market for PENN Interactive, which also operates the ESPN Bet sportsbook and the omnichannel Hollywood Casino in numerous U.S. states

“We believe the strength in Canada will only grow once we launch in Alberta, given the affinity for and loyalty to theScore brand across the country.”

PENN CEO Jay Snowden

“Our expectations for Alberta would be very similar to where we are currently in Ontario,” Snowden said. “[theScore Bet] has performed very well against all of the same operators that have larger share here in the U.S. And we would expect that dynamic to be the case in Alberta, as well.”

Flutter budgeting for FanDuel’s Alberta entry

FanDuel may not hold the same status in Ontario’s market as it does across the U.S., where it is the undisputed market leader with a reported 40%-plus market share, but it intends to be right in the mix in Alberta.

Rob Coldrake, chief financial officer of FanDuel’s owner Flutter, said in March that the company is budgeting for a spend of around $10 million USD ($13.7 million CAD at the time of writing) as a pre-live investment towards the end of 2025 as it prepares to step into the western province.

That is a fraction of the $80 million USD ($109.5 million CAD) it is budgeting for the sports betting-only launch in Missouri, when the Show-Me State becomes the latest to welcome in commercial online sportsbooks later this year, likely before Alberta goes live.

PointsBet: Alberta can be ‘critical’

For Australian sportsbook PointsBet, the allure is considerable.

After its U.S. shutdown last year, Ontario is the only market other than Australia in which PointsBet operates, and the only place where it offers online casino as well as sports betting. That makes the Alberta avenue even more attractive.

“We see Alberta as not just another market, but as a critical region that can help shape our future.”

PointsBet Canada CEO Scott Vanderwel

“Alberta is a key part of our growth strategy in Canada,” PointsBet Canada CEO Scott Vanderwel told CGB last year. “We plan to offer a full casino product from day one.”

NorthStar Gaming ‘well-positioned’ to make dent

Michael Moskowitz, CEO of smaller Canadian-focused brand NorthStar Gaming, said in mid-May that he feels his company is well-positioned due to its existing cross-Canada footprint.

NorthStar operates a licensed Ontario-facing sportsbook and online casino as well as a separate website owned and operated by the Conseil des Abénakis de Wôlinak that provides managed services rather than taking bets.

“Alberta is going to give us a tremendous opportunity to replicate all our great work.”

NorthStar Gaming CEO Michael Moskowitz

“In Ontario, we’ve been growing faster than the overall market, meaning we are gaining share in the rest of Canada,” Moskowitz said last month. “We’ve been investing continuously in the rest-of-Canada initiative and the managed services relationship we have with the Abénakis. It is the pipeline for the future. As markets become regulated, the databases and the business we’re building in that jurisdiction will turn to regulated business in years to come. A good example is Alberta.”

Betway and Jackpot City ready and waiting

Another company that may feel it has a headstart in Alberta is Super Group, the operator of multiple licensed Ontario brands including the Betway sportsbook and the Jackpot City and Spin online casinos.

CEO Neal Menashe speaks regularly about the opportunity in Alberta, where Super Group has significant existing visibility and brand recognition. The company’s Canadian revenue grew 2% year-over-year last quarter in Ontario and 16% in the rest of Canada.

Menashe said in May that performance “highlights the continued strength of our brands across Canada, where profitability remains very good.”

The reputed grey market leader intends to secure a license in Alberta.

“We know exactly what we need to do there.”

Super Group CEO Neal Menashe

“We’ve learned how we migrate our customers’ databases from Ontario and we’ve learned what maybe we didn’t do correctly, and we will never make the same mistake twice,” Menashe said last month. “The product’s being built ready, we wait for all the reg[ulation]s and we know exactly what we need to do there.”

So, when are we talking?

Other operators have made public noises of interest in Alberta.

BetRivers’ parent Rush Street Interactive expects to be in Alberta “leveraging our success in online casino markets in North America,” CEO Richard Schwartz said in May. And one operator not even live in Ontario yet, Las Vegas-based High Roller, said in recently announcing its Ontario license application that it intends to be in Alberta, too.

The interest is certainly there, but when some of these operators and more may be able to start taking customers’ money is less certain.

Alberta Minister Dale Nally, who authored the iGaming Act, said last fall that he hopes the market will be open by around October 2025.

Based on executives’ comments, the current consensus expectation seems to be more like the first quarter of 2026. Snowden’s suggestion that it could happen before the end of 2025 has not been echoed by fellow operators. Some are less optimistic, citing only the first half of next year. Time will tell.