Alberta launched commercial sports betting six weeks ago on July 13. What are some of the early Alberta betting trends so far?
Canadian Gaming Business spoke with several operators that went live on day one of the new market to find out what their users in Canada’s second regulated iGaming province are seeking out.
GeoComply notes FIFA World Cup flurry
Generally speaking, things got off to a fast start, according to Vancouver-based geocompliance technology firm GeoComply.
GeoComply reported that its iGaming partners in Alberta recorded more than 3.2 million geolocation checks and more than 100,000 sign-ups across the province in the very first week of the market. Geolocation checks refer to each time that a sports betting platform verifies a user’s location.
Operators who use GeoComply technology include:
- BetMGM
- Caesars
- DraftKings
- FanDuel
As would be expected, the activity came mostly in the highest-population areas of Calgary and Edmonton.
While Alberta’s launch missed major events on the North American sports calendar in the first half of 2026, like the end of the NBA season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, operators did get the final week of the FIFA World Cup under their belts.
GeoComply said the early flurry in regulated activity was driven in part by final rounds of the tournament, and peaked with more than 53,000 geolocation checks related to the Spain vs. Argentina final on Sunday, July 19.
Alberta gets in on soccer action
That tracks with what bet365‘s trading team told Canadian Gaming Business. The brand, which completed its transition to the regulated market on July 13, reported that all three of the most-bet sporting events on bet365 in Alberta so far were part of the FIFA World Cup:
- The World Cup final
- The semi-final round
- The third-place match
At both bet365 and BetMGM, soccer is the second-most-bet sport in Alberta so far, behind only baseball.
BetMGM VP of Canada Scott Woodgate said that even with the World Cup excitement, baseball has been No. 1 by far; three times as much money was placed on MLB as on soccer in the first few weeks of the Alberta betting market.
BetMGM’s top Alberta betting sports (by total handle)
- Baseball
- Soccer
- Table tennis
- Tennis
bet365’s top Alberta betting sports (by total wagers)
- Baseball
- Soccer
- Basketball
- Tennis
- MMA
bet365 compared that list with Ontario betting activity since July 13, where soccer was above baseball as the sport with the most wagers.
Meanwhile, a Caesars Sportsbook spokesperson told Canadian Gaming Business that the most wagered-on team in Alberta in the first month of the platform being live was the eventual World Cup winner, the Spain national team.
CFL and local picks feature prominently
Speaking of individual team picks, given their status as ‘Canada’s team’, the Toronto Blue Jays are the single most-wagered MLB team so far on BetMGM in Alberta, coming in ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in second and the Boston Red Sox in third.
Other Canadian teams and sports are also proving popular in the early stages of the market. Several operators noted the Canadian Football League (CFL), with a FanDuel spokesperson telling Canadian Gaming Business that Alberta customers are engaging three times more with CFL betting than the operator’s Ontario users, “underscoring the deep regional connection Albertans have with the league.”
“This is further reflected in betting preferences, with Alberta customers overwhelmingly backing their home teams, the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders, while Ontario bettors show a more balanced distribution across the league,” added the FanDuel spokesperson.
bet365 and DraftKings also both reported that the CFL has been particularly popular in Alberta betting, along with the NHL and the NFL.
On DraftKings, the Elks are the overwhelming choice among DraftKings users in the province to win the 2026 Grey Cup, attracting 55% of both the number of wagers and the total handle as of the time of the data collection in mid-August.
DraftKings users aren’t so hot on Canadian NHL teams. While the Florida Panthers lead Stanley Cup futures betting in Alberta with 25% of the handle and 22% of bets, the Edmonton Oilers saw 6% of the handle and wagers, ranked fourth in popularity. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the second most-backed Canadian hockey team, at 3% of the handle and 2% of bets.
Albertans tuned in to US sports
Several operators also noted that even in the offseason, the NFL is big business.
At BetMGM, the Seattle Seahawks are the top pick to win the Super Bowl by the number of bets placed in Alberta, ahead of the LA Rams. The Rams are the No. 1 choice in DraftKings’ Alberta betting, with 35% of all wagers on that futures market, ahead of the Buffalo Bills with 16% of bets.
On Caesars, baseball has proven to be particularly popular in Alberta betting. Three of the five most-bet teams by both tickets and handle are MLB franchises, although there’s a lot of difference between those two categories:
Caesars’ top Alberta betting teams (by total wagers)
- Spain (FIFA World Cup)
- Atlanta Braves (MLB)
- Milwaukee Brewers (MLB)
- Boston Red Sox (MLB)
- Argentina (FIFA World Cup)
Caesars’ top Alberta betting teams/athletes (by total handle)
- St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
- LA Dodgers (MLB)
- Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)
- Atlanta Dream (WNBA)
- Arthur Fils (Tennis)
What drives online casino in Alberta?
Like Ontario’s, Alberta’s iGaming market also allows operators to offer online casino.
BetMGM’s Woodgate said that so far, titles with recognizable brands and sports intellectual property have driven early engagement, as well as slots that have been mainstays on the casino floor. One such IP series, slots based on Game of Thrones, broke various records across key metrics in Ontario and is on a similar trajectory early in Alberta.
The FanDuel spokesperson added that its exclusive partnership with Light & Wonder for certain games in the prominent Huff N’ Puff franchise represents a distinct competitive advantage in Alberta; Huff N’ Even More Puff and Huff N’ Lots of Puff currently rank as the two most-played casino games on FanDuel Casino in Alberta.
Meanwhile, on the topic of slots, bet365 recently issued its July slots report, illustrating which individual games are proving popular on its Alberta casino platform.
