Online gamblers and sports bettors in Alberta are going to have to wait a little longer than anticipated for a new regulated marketplace.
In its latest update to Canada Sports Betting, the Alberta provincial government says it’s taking longer than anticipated to evolve the province’s iGaming structure, which initially was slated to be up and running by as early as this November’s CFL Grey Cup.
“As the gaming industry continues to evolve globally and in Alberta, we want to ensure a conducive business environment, while protecting the health and safety of Albertans, particularly our youth,” a spokesperson for the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction told CSB. “We want to get our iGaming strategy right by ensuring fairness and transparency to everyone.
“Industry stakeholders have told us that we need to continue our conversations so they can provide more input on the model. We are doing just that. Further engagements will also help to identify opportunities to align the strategy with our red tape reduction priorities.
“While we aim to put the strategy forward in 2025, we will continue to provide updates as this work unfolds.”
Minister Dale Nally is scheduled to make an appearance at this week’s G2E iGaming industry conference in Las Vegas to further consult with other iGaming industry professionals and regulators in preparation for the launch of Alberta’s market. Nally announced the province’s plans to expand iGaming to the private sector using Ontario‘s playbook last June at the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto.
“We want a free and open market,” Nally said. “It’s going to look very similar to Ontario because we’re following their model. As far as I’m concerned, they built the roadmap and we’re working through that now. We’re probably going to massage it a little bit, so it’s got a little bit of a spin on Alberta, but really, it’s being inspired by the market in Ontario.”
A few months later, Nally’s office identified three key dates: Grey Cup (November), Super Bowl (February 2025) and the NHL playoffs (April 2025) as potential launch points for the new regulated market. A prospective launch at the latest identified checkpoint, the NHL playoffs, now appears in peril. The delays in launching such a market, though, aren’t surprising, given it took Ontario roughly a decade of work behind the scenes before launching its regulated iGaming market in April 2022. With a blueprint now in hand from its provincial counterpart, it shouldn’t take the Alberta government that long to initiate its own market. However, there are several administrative and legal hurdles to clear before the project can commence.
April would be an exciting and logical time to launch a regulated market from a sports betting perspective, with the beginning of the NHL and NBA playoffs, The Masters, and the start of the MLB regular season all crossing over with each other. But if an April launch isn’t feasible, it probably makes sense to wait until a late August or September launch to coincide with the start of the NFL season. The summer season is by far the slowest on the sports betting calendar, especially with no major soccer tournaments like EURO or the World Cup scheduled in 2025 or the Summer Olympic Games.
AGLC bracing for competition
In the meantime, the province’s only legal iGaming and sports betting option, Play Alberta, has been preparing to lose its legal monopoly in the online gambling space. Several updates have been rolled out over the past few months in an attempt to revamp its online casino and sports betting platforms. With possibly dozens of operators licking their lips to do business in the province, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis platform is doing everything it can to try and maintain its market share. All of AGLC’s profits are reinvested back into provincial programs, but that won’t be the case for the private operators entering the marketplace in the future. They’ll need to pay a tax that is undetermined at this time on their gross gaming revenue to the provincial government. Operators pay roughly a 20% tax in Ontario, and it’s expected Alberta’s tax on gaming operators will likely be somewhere in the same ballpark.
Play Alberta recently enhanced its existing partnerships with the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, which owns and operates five professional sports franchises: the Calgary Flames (NHL), Calgary Stampeders (CFL), Calgary Roughnecks (NLL), Calgary Wranglers (AHL), and the Calgary Hitmen (WHL). Under the new terms of both these deals, Play Alberta will be the “exclusive” sports betting and online gaming partner with both properties, essentially taking away marketing opportunities with nearly all of the major professional sports franchises from private operators ahead of the launch of the market.
This past year, PlayAlberta.ca generated $235 million in net sales, an increase of more than $42 million from 2022-23. That number contributes to the $1.5 billion in total gaming revenue that’s sent to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund and supports programs and services that Albertans rely on every day.
The latest forecast from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC, a research firm focused on servicing the gaming equipment, sports, and interactive gaming sectors within the global gaming industry, has the Alberta online gambling market (OSB, iCasino, online poker) generating $863 million (USD) GGR at maturity.
