As Alberta opens Canada’s second regulated commercial online gambling market, attention is turning to how the province could shape the industry’s next chapter. David Bretnitz, VP Sales Americas at Kambi, tells Canadian Gaming Business why Alberta is more than “Ontario 2.0”, how operators can differentiate in an increasingly competitive market, and what the launch could mean for the future of regulation across Canada.
How significant is the launch of Alberta’s online gambling market for the Canadian industry?
It’s a very significant moment for the Canadian industry. Alberta is only the second province to open a regulated commercial iGaming market, so there will naturally be a lot of attention on how it develops.
For Kambi, the recent announcement of our partnership with Pure Casino Entertainment, one of the province’s leading casino operators, is another sign of the momentum building in Alberta and reflects the role we believe Kambi can play in supporting a range of operators as the market takes shape.
Do you expect Alberta to follow Ontario’s trajectory in terms of sportsbook growth, or do you see the province developing its own identity as a betting market?
There will definitely be some similarities, especially because Alberta has been able to learn from Ontario’s experience. But I don’t think it will simply be Ontario 2.0. Alberta has its own character, and over time I expect the market to develop in its own way.
Alberta’s market won’t just be about online brands either. It will also be about how digital and on-property betting experiences come together for players. Ontario will remain the larger market, of course, but Alberta has the potential to become one of the most interesting regulated jurisdictions in North America relative to its size.
Having established a major presence in Ontario through OLG, what lessons from that market do you believe will prove most valuable in Alberta?
The biggest lesson is that localization really matters. Canadian players want products that feel relevant to them, whether that’s the sports they follow, the bet types they prefer or the way the experience is presented. Through our work with Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) and multiple operators in Ontario, we have lots of experience about what resonates with Canadian bettors and what it takes to keep them engaged in a competitive market.
That knowledge is highly relevant in Alberta. Kambi is also unique in our ability to combine global scale with the ability to support operators locally. The power of our network is a big part of that: every partner benefits from the depth of insight, trading expertise and operational learnings we build across markets around the world. That is what gives us confidence that we can help deliver strong, localized experiences from the outset.
How can sportsbooks stand out when everyone has access to premium technology and similar betting markets?
That’s exactly the challenge operators are facing. Having strong technology is essential, but it’s not enough on its own. The real difference comes from how operators use that technology to create an experience that feels distinctive, relevant and true to their brand. In the case of Pure Casino Entertainment, as one of Alberta’s largest casino operators, they already have a well-established brand and they knew that by working with Kambi they would get a partner that would enable them to showcase that.
That is where Kambi’s suite of differentiation tools can be very powerful. For example, operators can use our rewards toolbox to create promotions such as free bets, odds boosts, profit boosts and early payout, all of which can help drive retention and player lifetime value. They can also create their own bet builder specials to support marketing campaigns and local sporting moments, while using price differentiation to shape margins and pricing at a local level. On top of that, we give partners the ability to tailor every aspect of the front end so that the look, feel and user journey reflect their brand and strategy.
Through Kambi Engage, they can also access a wide range of integrated third-party engagement solutions. Rather than every operator competing with the same UX and odds, Kambi empowers them to build something that feels uniquely theirs.
How does Kambi adapt its platform to support businesses with very different strategies and customer bases?
Flexibility is really at the heart of it. No two operators are trying to do exactly the same thing, so the platform has to support different strategies, different brands and different levels of control.
For a large international brand, that might mean a high level of customization, advanced trading capabilities and the ability to scale across multiple jurisdictions. For a regional operator, it might be more about building on local brand strength and creating an experience that speaks directly to its customer base. Pure Casino Entertainment is a good example of that second opportunity: a recognized Alberta operator with retail properties in key cities and plans to bring its PureCasino.ca brand into the regulated online market.
Our job is to give partners that choice. They can decide how much control and differentiation they want, while still benefiting from the scale, reliability and expertise of a proven sportsbook platform.
How important is Canada within the company’s global growth strategy?
Canada is a very important market for Kambi, and one where we’ve built real momentum.
With the partnerships you reference, Kambi will have a presence in nine of Canada’s ten provinces. Our activity in Alberta gives us a strong position in the province’s emerging commercial market across both online and on-property sports betting. That is a strong platform, and it says a lot about the trust leading Canadian operators and lotteries place in our technology and services.
More broadly, Canada is exactly the type of market where Kambi can add value: it rewards premium technology, deep trading expertise and long-term partnerships.
As more jurisdictions regulate, how important is it for suppliers like Kambi to balance standardized technology with local market customization?
It’s absolutely critical.
The underlying technology has to be scalable, reliable and efficient across markets. But customers don’t experience a sportsbook as a piece of infrastructure. They experience it through the sports they follow, the promotions they see, the way the product looks and the way it fits into their local market.
That is why suppliers need both: a strong global foundation and the flexibility to localize where it matters. At Kambi, we’ve built our platform around that balance. The scale of our global network means we can bring proven technology, trading intelligence and product learnings into new markets, while still giving partners the flexibility to create something that feels local. Canada is a good example, and our latest Alberta announcement with Pure Casino Entertainment shows how we can combine the scale of Kambi’s Turnkey Sportsbook with the local knowledge, brand strength and retail footprint of a leading provincial casino operator.
If Alberta is successful, do you think it accelerates the case for other Canadian provinces to regulate commercial iGaming, and what would that mean for suppliers like Kambi?
Each province will make its own decisions, based on its own priorities. But if Alberta delivers on the goals policymakers have set out, particularly around consumer protection, channelization and revenue generation, it will certainly strengthen the case for further regulatory development elsewhere.
Alberta has the potential to become an important catalyst for the next phase of the country’s gaming industry, just as Ontario has been over the past several years.
