Alberta sports betting took a significant step this week.
The Alberta legislature’s Committee of the Whole passed Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, Wednesday night. The legislation then received a third and final reading.
While passage sets the framework for Alberta sport betting, modeling it after Ontario’s commercial market, there is still no official launch date. The legislation still requires Royal Assent, which is approval from Alberta’s lieutenant governor.
Alberta sports betting setup
The iGaming Alberta Act will set up a new government agency, the Alberta iGaming Corp. Online gambling operators will have to set up deals with Alberta iGaming to operate in the province.
The agency is set “to develop, undertake, organize, conduct and manage online lottery schemes.” The change and ensuing “schemes” will make Alberta the second Canadian province, behind Ontario, to allow commercial online operators into its market.
Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis will oversee the market. The AGLC operates the province’s only live online sports betting option, Play Alberta, which controls less than 50% of the market; the rest is unregulated platforms.
Replicating the Ontario online gambling market
Commercial Ontario online gambling launched in April 2022.
Earlier this month, iGaming Ontario released its third full year of figures from online gambling. That includes a 32% increase in gambling revenue to C$3.2 billion (US$2.3 billion) from C$2.4 billion (US$1.7 billion).
Ontario has more than 45 online gambling operators. Executives from multiple operators have lauded the Ontario regulatory framework.
Potential Alberta timeline
When commercial Alberta sports betting was initially announced in 2024, Minister Dave Nally floated a launch date of late 2024. Earlier this year, he reset his estimation to later this year or early 2026.
Earlier this year, Canadian Gaming Association President Paul Burns suggested the launch would be early next year.
This week, executives at FanDuel-parent Flutter also predicted an early 2026 launch.
Alberta sports betting projections
Operators appear excited by the prospects of Alberta’s demographics. Still, Alberta is much smaller than Ontario, with a population of approximately 4 million compared to more than 14 million.
Those demographics include Canada’s youngest adult population combined with the highest per-capita GDP and highest per-capita spending on gambling.
Last year, JMP Securities estimated the province’s gambling market could surpass US$700 million annually.
