Cutting the ribbon on Alberta’s iGaming market is still on track for early 2026, and major commercial brands are lining up outside the door. The iGaming Alberta Act (Bill 48) passed its third reading in May 2025 and now awaits royal assent to officially be enacted into law.
While the legislation only offers a framework for legalizing iGaming in the province, numerous sportsbook and top Canadian online casino brands are wasting no time preparing their debut in the province.
SuperGroup is Alberta Market Ready
SuperGroup, with its Ontario-facing brands such as Jackpot City, Spin Casino, and Betway Limited, has been vocal about its plans to expand to Alberta as early as Q1 2026.
Neal Menashe, SuperGroup’s CEO, said on call with investors discussing the company’s Q1 2025 25% year-on-year increase: “Alberta … might be the latter half of 2026, based on where the regulation is currently. We learned how we migrate our customers’ databases from Ontario. Maybe we didn’t do it correctly then, and we will never make the same mistake twice. We will wait for all the regs, so we know exactly what we need to do then. The product is being built.”
BetMGM Was Ready To Pounce as Early as 2024
A premier online gambling destination with a 22% North American market share, BetMGM has had its eyes on Alberta well before the province’s iGaming plans took shape.
BetMGM Canada’s Vice President, Scott Woodgate, in an interview with the Canadian Gaming Business about entering Alberta’s iGaming market said:
“We’re very interested. We’re eager to take what we’ve learned in Ontario and then build on our leadership position in Canada. At the same time, we’re very much aware that Alberta has a distinct sports and gaming culture. We look forward to meeting the demands of the Alberta customers. It’s a unique market. We also see the potential for Alberta to become a key omni-channel market for us.”
While the brand is already a top player in Ontario’s iGaming scene, expanding to Alberta would extend its market reach across Canada. BetMGM already has an upper hand already against its competitors.
“We’ve obviously gotten into business with a couple of guys from Alberta. So, we see the appeal,” Woodgate said regarding BetMGM’s partnership with Alberta’s most iconic Edmonton Oilers players, Connor McDavid and Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky has been with BetMGM since June 2021, while McDavid joined in 2022 as the company’s first active NHL athlete ambassador.
While the company can only use these two in promoting responsible gambling messaging in Ontario due to regulations from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, how Alberta’s iGaming regulator will treat celebrity messaging is yet to be known. But with two of the province’s biggest hockey stars on the roster, it’s clear BetMGM’s interest in Alberta has been evident for a while.
PENN Interactive’s theScore Bet Awaits to Reap Rewards in Alberta
theScore Bet has seen tremendous success in Ontario. So much so that PENN executives say the province is the company’s top North American market by gross profit, revenue, and contribution margins.
Commenting on theScore Bet’s Ontario success, Jay Snowden, PENN’s CEO, said:
“We have a brand that resonates with not just people who love sports, but we also have a great casino product. Our iCasino business in Ontario has been ramping quite nicely. The monthly active user growth in iGaming in 2024 over ’23 was great now that we have a better product.”
With Alberta’s market still awaiting final approval, PENN and theScore Bet are ready to translate their Ontario success westward and capture more market share in a province known for its sports enthusiasm.
Analysts and industry observers say the move could cement theScore’s position in Canada. This is especially true if the company can replicate its Ontario product mix and user economics in a new regulatory environment.
“Our expectations for Alberta would be very similar to where we are currently in Ontario,” Snowden said. “From a market share standpoint, we were not an operator pre-legalization, so we really did have to fight against incumbent operators who had been operating when it was more of a grey market. It’s performed very well against all of the same operators that have maybe a larger share here in the U.S. And we would expect that dynamic to be the case in Alberta, as well.”
Flutter Has Team and Budget in Place for FanDuel Canada’s Rollout in Alberta
FanDuel, a market leader in the US, entered into the Canadian market during Ontario’s iGaming market launch in April 2022. While its Ontario performance is yet to match the scale of its 40% US market share, parent company Flutter has earmarked $10 million as a pre-live investment before Alberta’s market opening.
Robert Coldrake, Flutter Group’s Chief Financial Officer, explained to investors in March 2025 that the group has plans to enter Alberta in Q1 2026. This will be right after stepping into Missouri’s sports betting market, which the company budgeted a spend of $80 million.
Northstar is Also Gearing Up for Alberta
A smaller, more niche Toronto-based media and gaming operator, Northstar is also steadily carving a path as Alberta’s iGaming market launch approaches. During the release of its 2025 first quarter earnings, Northstar’s CEO, Michael Moskowitz, stated that his company is well-positioned to expand across Canada and that includes Alberta’s soon-to-open iGaming market.
“In Ontario, we’ve been growing faster than the overall market, meaning we are gaining share in the rest of Canada,” Moskowitz said in May. “We’ve been investing continuously in the rest-of-Canada initiative and the managed services relationship we have with the Abénakis. It is the pipeline for the future. As markets become regulated, the databases and the business we’re building in that jurisdiction will turn to regulated business in years to come. A good example is Alberta.”
PointsBet is Cautious
For Australian operator PointsBet, Alberta presents a clear growth opportunity. After exiting the US market in 2024, Australia and Ontario remain the only markets this brand runs its online casino and sports betting products.
That said, Alberta is an attractive second Canadian market where they can deploy their full product suite. Success in this market would allow PointsBet to cross sell between casino and sportsbook customers, apply learnings from Ontario, and diversify revenue beyond one non-Australian market. It would also strengthen the brand in Canada at a time when multiple operators are fighting for market share.
But to capitalise, PointsBet needs to move fast on licensing, local partnerships and targeted marketing to convert Ontario experience into Alberta traction.
Other Players Have Expressed Public Interest In Alberta
Several operators have already expressed interest in Alberta’s upcoming iGaming market. Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz said in May they plan to launch BetRivers in the province, given their existing presence in the North American online casino market.
High Roller, which just applied for an Ontario licence, has also mentioned Alberta as part of their Canadian plans.
When that will become a reality is still to be determined. Alberta iGaming Act architect Dale Nally said last fall that it could be as early as Q1 2026. But most industry insiders now say it may slide into H1 2026.
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