Alberta’s commercial iGaming market will open on July 13, and the regulator’s list of registered operator sites has reached 47 as of June 15, with evoke plc’s 888 and PENN Entertainment’s Hollywood Casino among the latest additions.
The province becomes Canada’s second regulated online gambling market, following the model Ontario has run for the past four years. Dozens of operators will compete for online sports betting and online casino players alongside the government-run Play Alberta platform.
Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), which runs Play Alberta and will regulate the open market, set out its initial iGaming standards and the market’s tax rate in January 2026.
Registered operator list reaches 47 sites
Alberta Minister Dale Nally said at SBC Summit Canada on May 20 that he believes as many as 70 operator sites have expressed interest in entering the market. The current AGLC register lists 47 sites, though that figure does not equate to 47 separate companies, as several brands sit under shared parent groups.
The registered field spans large U.S. and Canadian betting and iCasino brands, European operators entering the province, smaller Ontario-market players, and several First Nations-operated land-based casinos. The June 15 update added evoke plc’s 888, a longstanding Ontario licensee, and confirmed that PENN Entertainment will run its Hollywood Casino app alongside theScore Bet and theScore Casino.
Multi-brand groups account for much of the volume. Super Group is registered to run six brands, including Betway and iCasino platforms Jackpot City and Spin Casino. Apollo Entertainment is listed with seven casino brands, while SkillOnNet carries four and Caesars three. BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, bet365, Bally’s, Entain, Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers and PointsBet Canada also feature on the register.
More than 50 gaming content and technology suppliers have been cleared to work with Alberta operators, including Bede Gaming, Blueprint Gaming, EveryMatrix, Gaming Innovation Group, Greentube, IGT, Kambi, Play’n GO, Relax Gaming and Wazdan.
What operators are saying about Alberta
Since the July 13 date was confirmed at the end of March, executives across several listed operators have used earnings calls to outline their entry plans and expectations.
Rush Street Interactive targets casino players
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) Chief Executive Officer Richard Schwartz told an April 28 earnings call that Alberta represents a significant expansion opportunity for the casino-focused BetRivers brand, while signalling caution on timing. The company does not expect Alberta to be profitable in 2027 but anticipates modest revenue in the back half of this year, with the launch already built into its raised full-year 2026 revenue and EBITDA guidance.
RSI President and Chief Financial Officer Kyle Sauers said the market would be highly competitive given the number of interested operators and existing grey-market brands, but pointed to Ontario as a template.
“Ontario has been a great market for us, we’ve grown really nicely,” Sauers said. “We’re taking share there, but we’re still relatively small in the scope of the entire market. That’s probably a good target for us early on.”
Caesars to launch three brands at once
Caesars will open three online gaming brands in Alberta: Caesars Palace Online Casino, Caesars Sportsbook & Casino and Horseshoe Online Casino. All three already operate in Ontario and four U.S. states. Caesars Digital President Eric Hession said on an April 28 call that the company’s mobile products have improved markedly since Ontario’s launch, and that a simultaneous three-brand rollout differs from the staggered Ontario approach.
“[Alberta] actually has a fairly high average wealth per person, but it is on the smaller side in terms of the size of the province,” Hession said. “That said, it’s both sports and iCasino, so we’re very optimistic that it’ll be a great market.”
PENN expects tougher day-one competition than Ontario
PENN Entertainment will extend theScore Bet to a second province, drawing on the brand’s existing recognition as a sports media app. Chief Technology Officer Aaron LaBerge said on an April 23 call that the company has a full-scale marketing plan due to begin by July, and that theScore is the leading media sports brand in the Canadian market. CEO Jay Snowden said PENN is budgeting for a loss of around C$27m in 2026 tied directly to the Alberta launch, with Ontario remaining PENN Interactive’s strongest North American market by share and contribution margin.
LaBerge said the opening would be more crowded than Ontario’s, where around a dozen operators went live on April 4, 2022.
“When we launched in Ontario, it was a lot less competitive,” LaBerge said. “There are a lot more applicants and people in market for Alberta. Of course, leaning on the theScore brand is going to help us break through some of that noise.”
Super Group prepares six-brand rollout
Super Group, which has a longstanding grey-market presence in Alberta, will launch six brands in the province, led by the Betway sportsbook and iCasino platforms including Jackpot City and Spin. CEO Neal Menashe said on a May 12 call that Alberta’s migration rules give operators an advantage Ontario did not.
“In Alberta, you can market the new software first and have a period of three months or so to be able to move your existing customers over,” Menashe said. “So that, for us, is a massive, massive difference.”
With registrations still open, AGLC is expected to keep adding operators ahead of the July 13 start, and the final day-one field will test whether Alberta’s higher per-capita wealth can offset a smaller population and a more contested launch than Ontario faced in 2022.
Source: Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC)
