Key Takeaways
- FanDuel parent company Flutter estimates that it had 23% of Alberta’s regulated iGaming market by gross gaming revenue in the province’s first quarter.
- FanDuel launched on day one of Canada’s second provincial regulated iGaming market, on July 13.
- Big-name operators continue to report that Alberta is outperforming Ontario’s 2022 launch on a population-adjusted basis, as CEOs begin to eye future expansion in other provinces.
The CEO of FanDuel’s parent company said the operator’s first few months in Alberta blew their expectations out of the water.
The U.S. gaming giant was one of roughly 15 iGaming operators to go live on day one when the province launched its commercial, regulated online gambling market on July 13. Flutter CEO Dan Taylor suggested on a Q3 earnings call on Nov. 4 that FanDuel quickly established a leadership position.
“Alberta is the first new online casino market for some time. The success there has astounded us,” Taylor told investors and analysts. “We’ve reached 20%-plus market share within the first quarter, which is already well ahead of where we thought we would be, particularly given there were existing grey-market operators in that state beforehand.”
In an earnings release before the call, Flutter stated that it held a total 23% share of the regulated Alberta market by gross gaming revenue across both online casino and online sports betting in Q3.
There is a caveat, as Alberta’s regulated market expanded significantly after the end of Q3, from roughly 30 licensed commercial iGaming sites as of Sept. 30 to 51 licensed commercial sites as of the time of writing. Given that jump in the first two weeks of Q4, FanDuel’s share may have diminished a little.
But there was no doubt from Flutter’s update that Alberta is already proving to be a big success story for the company.
FanDuel put in groundwork before Alberta opened
For companies like FanDuel, Alberta offered the kind of opportunity that does not come around often in North American gaming: a new jurisdiction with both online casino and sports available simultaneously and a player base ready to use leading brands after years of pre-existing grey market activity.
“Canada has, for quite a while, been one of the best opportunities for North American online gaming operators,” FanDuel SVP of Public Policy and Sustainability Cory Fox said on a Canada-focused panel at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) on Sept. 29. “When new jurisdictions and provinces open within Canada, they typically include both casino as well as sports betting, which is hard to come by in U.S. jurisdictions.
“There is also a real history of online gaming in Canada. It’s happening in the grey market, but that allows the regulated operators to really quickly establish a business.”
In the pursuit of that fast start, FanDuel laid down the groundwork before Alberta’s doors opened. It launched pre-registration in the province months in advance and ran on-the-ground and digital activations leading up to launch, including a Thrillionaire Questionnaire traveling roadshow across the province and sponsorships at the Calgary Stampede in the days before regulated Alberta iGaming began.
Alberta proving a faster start than Ontario for operators
That appears to have paid off.
Taylor added on the Q3 earnings call on Nov. 4 that FanDuel’s start to life in Canada’s second regulated iGaming province proved to be “materially faster” than it was in Ontario four years ago, and that the estimated 23% Alberta market share significantly surpassed FanDuel’s start to life in Ontario.
That echoed what other operators such as BetMGM and BetRivers said about the early weeks of their life in Alberta, with executives pointing to considerably stronger rates of customer acquisition in that province than in the 2022 ramp-up period in Ontario, when adjusting for the difference in the provinces’ respective populations.
Flutter put the performance down to a combination of the strength of FanDuel’s brand and product offering, as well as its experience operating in numerous highly competitive markets across North America. Flutter also offers PokerStars in Alberta, now as a FanDuel-branded product that went live in the province last week.
Flutter hopes for long-term iGaming opportunities in Canada
Alberta’s market is only four months old, but the industry is already casting its eye elsewhere in Canada in the hope of further provincial opportunities.
At G2E, Fox called for more regulation in other provinces, and Taylor said on the Q3 call that “the success in Alberta gives us real confidence and conviction about the opportunity for iGaming” in both Canada and the U.S.
In just the last few weeks, several developments have hinted that momentum might be growing in other parts of the country after Alberta’s embrace of commercial online gambling.
- Quebec’s new Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon backed the idea of expanding iGaming before being elected in October.
- New Brunswick Finance Minister René Legacy confirmed to Canadian Gaming Business that the province “is exploring options around regulating private online operators.”
- Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr told reporters that the province is watching Alberta and Ontario closely and that “conversations are underway right now” about changing its iGaming model.
BetMGM executives told Canadian Gaming Business at G2E that Alberta’s launch is proving to other provinces the benefits of a regulated commercial market, and PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden said on theScore Bet parent company’s Q3 call on Nov. 5 that he believes other provinces will look to follow Ontario and Alberta “over the coming quarters and years.”
Flutter posts modest North American growth
Taylor spoke about the early Alberta progress after Flutter reported its financial results for the period from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Flutter’s U.S. segment, which despite its name also includes Ontario and Alberta operations, grew its revenue by 6% year over year to US$1.46bn, with online casino growth (8%) twice as strong as online sports betting (4%). Adjusted EBITDA for the segment fell to US$3m, which the company said reflected its pre- and post-launch investments in Alberta, as well as its continued investment in U.S. prediction markets.
Taylor said that the underlying performance across North America was ahead of expectations.
“I strongly believe we have the best assets to capture the significant opportunity in the increasingly competitive North American market,” added the Flutter CEO. “… My focus is on turning our progress in the U.S. into continued delivery, and ensuring we are making the right choices to secure FanDuel’s long-term success.”
