It’s all systems go for theScore Bet as parent company PENN Entertainment gears up for what it hopes will be a big splash in Alberta.
PENN confirmed Thursday that it received approval from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) as a registered operator, allowing it to launch theScore’s mobile sports betting and online casino platform in the province when it opens its regulated iGaming market on July 13.
theScore Bet is one of the first commercial operators to get the official green light from the upcoming market’s regulator, along with the likes of DraftKings. It will add Alberta to a North American footprint that already includes deep roots in Ontario’s iGaming market, as well as 20 U.S. states.
The province will be the sixth market in which PENN offers both online sports betting and iCasino.
theScore ramping up Alberta marketing
PENN Chief Executive Officer Jay Snowden and his fellow executives have been saying since 2024 that they expect theScore’s longstanding nationwide sports media presence, as well as its success with online gambling in Ontario, to allow it to hit the ground running in Alberta.
“We feel really good about our launch there,” PENN Chief Technology Officer Aaron LaBerge said on a company earnings call on Thursday. “Obviously, theScore brand in Canada is very strong. It’s the number one media sports brand in market.”
Still, it sounds like they are readying a splashy launch in the western province to hammer home their arrival. Snowden promised last year when PENN abandoned its U.S.-facing ESPN Bet sportsbook venture that many of the marketing dollars saved by the end of that brand would be reinvested in Canada. That certainly seems to be the case.
“We have a full-scale marketing plan that we’re building towards that’s going to start in July,” LaBerge told investors and analysts on the April 23 call. “We’re already in market with pre-registration. We’re going to be active from a brand and performance marketing perspective.”
That will come at a short-term cost. Snowden said PENN is budgeting for a loss of roughly C$27m in 2026 directly attributable to the Alberta launch.
Ontario advantage = Alberta advantage?
Part of the reason PENN is pouring marketing spend into a province where theScore is already renowned is that, as executives noted, theScore Bet may face stiffer day-one competition in Alberta than it did in Ontario, where it launched April 4, 2022, day one of the regulated market.
More than 30 operators have applied to be in Alberta as of last week, according to comments made by the province’s minister responsible for iGaming, Dale Nally.
“When we launched in Ontario, it was a lot less competitive,” said LaBerge. “There are a lot more applicants and people in market for Alberta. That’s a factor that we’re looking at. Of course, leaning on the theScore brand is going to help us break through some of that noise.”
To that point, theScore had the immediate advantage in Ontario of drawing upon years of visibility and a large user base as a sports media company. In Alberta, it will have not only that, but also four years of Ontario iGaming to draw upon.
iGaming Ontario does not post revenue numbers or market share by operator, but PENN leaders tout theScore Bet as one of the big hitters in the province. Snowden noted Thursday that Ontario continues to be one of PENN Interactive’s biggest and best markets, with year-over-year growth in average monthly active users, online sports betting revenue, and iCasino revenue for theScore.
PENN expects similar in Alberta.
“We enjoy a very nice market share in Ontario today,” said LaBerge. “It’s a big part of our gaming business, and we expect to see similar market share [in Alberta] based on the investments we’re going to make.
“If you’re in Ontario, you’re starting to see theScore brand all around the city. And the same thing is going to continue in Alberta. We’re going to leverage all of our assets. We have as many people on theScore in Alberta as we do in Ontario. We’re expecting a very successful launch.”
Canada is PENN’s king in the north
theScore Bet also benefits from a prominent and exclusive partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that, while based in Ontario’s capital, is often referred to as “Canada’s team”. That will be heavily leaned on, suggested executives, likely through marketing, broadcast visibility, and the continuation of exclusive casino games such as Blue Jays Blackjack on theScore Bet’s all-in-one app and theScore Casino standalone app.
Ultimately, it’s clear that while PENN continues to focus on an iCasino-first approach in the U.S., Canada is a jewel in the crown for the Pennsylvania-based company’s online gambling operations.
“Ontario is clearly an area of strength for us, and we’ve done a lot of analysis on what worked for us with the Ontario launch, what maybe didn’t,” Snowden said. “Canada is going to be our strongest-margin market in North America. Part of that’s driven by volume and market share, and part of that’s driven by [20%] tax rates, and the fact that you have iCasino and OSB.
“There’s no doubt, Canada for us is going to be market number one from a margin and profitability perspective.”
