The coming launch of a competitive market for online sports betting and iGaming in the Western Canadian province of Alberta has at least one operator rubbing its hands together in anticipation, even if there’s no date yet for when the new regulatory framework will go live.
Alberta’s government has made it clear it plans to launch a regulated iGaming market similar to that of Ontario, allowing multiple private-sector operators of online sports wagering and casino gaming sites to legally take bets from residents.
Dale Nally, the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, told Covers in June that the province wants “to move sooner as opposed to later” in launching the iGaming market. However, there is still some work left to do before a date is set.
“Although we have not yet finalized a launch date, a timeline will be provided as soon as a decision is made,” said Brandon Aboultaif, Nally's press secretary, in an email to Covers earlier this week.
Aboultaif added that the government spent the summer meeting with casino and racino operators, as well as First Nations, to get their thoughts about an “expanded iGaming model” in the province.
“The insights and opportunities they’ve raised to enhance Alberta’s gaming sector have been incredibly valuable to us,” Aboultaif said. “As we develop our policy, we will continue to assess which model works best for our province as well and review best practices from other jurisdictions, including Ontario.”
While Alberta’s iGaming framework may still be a work in progress, the signals the government has sent suggesting similarities to Ontario, such as no limit on the number of participants and the ability to offer sports betting and casino games, means interest from operators is high.
Expect theScore Bet to go live in Alberta when commercial sports betting goes live, likely by next year, Penn CEO Jay Snowden said during today's Q2 earnings call
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) August 8, 2024
PENN Entertainment Inc. CEO Jay Snowden said Thursday during the company's second-quarter earnings call that they expect Alberta to be “a very strong market for us,” as theScore is a well-known brand across Canada and its media app is widely used. PENN purchased Toronto-based theScore in 2021 for approximately US$2 billion in cash and stock.
Wyomissing, Pa.-based PENN also operates ESPN BET in the U.S., where it remains one of the small to medium-sized players in the online gambling industry.
But, in Canada, the company uses theScore as its consumer-facing brand, and theScore Bet is live in Ontario’s regulated iGaming market. The high usage of theScore in Canada has enabled PENN to make more of a splash in Ontario compared to the U.S. market, which the company likely hopes to do again in Alberta.
Snowden also suggested the Alberta market is similar to other parts of Canada in that there is an active “grey” market for online gambling, with operators that are not regulated locally accepting action from provincial bettors.
Ontario likewise had a lot of unregulated activity before launching its competitive iGaming market in April 2022, which prompted many of those operators to sign up and subject themselves to local regulation. Ontario is the only province in Canada with a regulatory system that allows multiple private operators to participate.
As for when Alberta will launch its competitive market, again, the hope is it will happen sooner rather than later. But, also again, no official date has been set.
“We don’t have an exact date on Alberta, and I don’t want to speak obviously for the government or the regulators there,” Snowden said. “But I would say, we’re thinking sometime towards the end of this year, early 2025 is kind of the rough timeframe.”
The eighth wonder of the iGaming world
PENN and theScore will likely be joined in Alberta by operators such as bet365, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
For the moment, though, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission and its Play Alberta site have a legal monopoly on iGaming in the province, which has a population similar in size to states such as Kentucky and Oregon.
Still, when the market does open, there will be money to be made, especially with online casino gaming authorized. Alberta's iGaming regime could eventually generate more than US$700 million a year in revenue, according to a Citizens JMP Securities analysis published earlier this year.
"If $700M of gaming revenue is met, it would represent the eighth-largest gaming market in North America,” analyst Jordan Bender wrote.
