Regulated online casinos from the industry’s top brands should be live in Alberta sometime in the spring or summer.
That is according to comments made by Dan Keene, the interim CEO of the Alberta iGaming Corporation, on the Gaming News Canada podcast this week.
“I would say don’t wait,” Keene said about operators that want to join the market. “We’re targeting a spring/summer launch and there’s just tremendous momentum that’s happening. So stay tuned.”
Alberta will be the second Canadian province to legalize commercial online casinos after Ontario launched in 2022. Alberta does have legal iGaming through Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, but it is estimated the black market accounts for 70% of all iGaming in the province.
Operators eager for online casinos in Alberta
The biggest operators in North America are ready to take their chances in the Alberta online casino market, according to comments made on recent earnings calls.
BetRivers parent Rush Street Interactive noted the timeline’s progression, saying it looks like the end of the second quarter could be the target.
“This represents a significant opportunity for us to leverage our success in other North American online casino markets, particularly given our strong performance in Ontario and our established and growing brand recognition across Canada,” CEO Richard Schwartz said.
Penn Entertainment and its theScore Bet sportsbook, based on the Canadian Score Media brand, knows it has to get off to a hot start in the province.
“Obviously, it’s a really important market,” CEO Jay Snowden said. “And we’ve all learned through the years that those initial sign-ups you get, those are the most valuable customer cohorts that you end up with. And so we got to make sure that we launch successfully in Alberta like we did in Ontario.”
Opening their wallets for customer acquisition
So far, only Penn and FanDuel parent Flutter have put a number on expected spend in Alberta.
“This includes new state investment of $70 million in adjusted EBITDA as we expect to launch Alberta in Q2,” Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake said.
Penn, meanwhile, plans to spend between $15 million and $20 million on the launch.
BetMGM sounds ready to spend on the new market as well, telling analysts that its adjusted EBITDA will be pressured by the Alberta launch.
“However, of course, 2026 will not be a normal year given the investment in the Alberta launch and the annualization of 2025 tax rate changes in various states with the biggest impact being from New Jersey,” CFO Gary Deutsch said. “So as we’ve previously flagged, 2026 flow-through is therefore expected to be lower than the steady-state 40% to 45%.”
DraftKings also is accounting for Alberta’s launch in its 2026 guidance, CEO Jason Robins said.
