While the province’s beloved Edmonton Oilers used momentum to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals, a new push could get the Alberta sports betting market off the ground by the end of the year.

At the Canadian Gaming Summit last week, Alberta sports betting was the talk of the conference. That included Dale Nally, minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, confirming during a keynote speech the province will follow a model similar to Ontario sports betting.

“It’s going to be very similar to Ontario because we’re following their model,” Nally said, noting how much the province loves sports and the Oilers. “As far as I’m concerned, they built the roadmap. We’ll massage it a little bit but it’s been inspired by the experience in Ontario. It’s going to be an open and free market.”

Multiple speakers throughout the Summit said commercial Alberta sportsbooks could launch by the end of the year. It would be the second online commercial market in Canada sports betting.

Alberta sports betting path

Last month, Alberta lawmakers passed Bill 16, which allows the province to create a new regulatory body to oversee sports betting and online casinos, similar to iGaming Ontario. 

That means Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis will not oversee the market. Nally said commercial operators made it clear they did not want AGLC running the market because AGLC runs PlayAlberta, the province’s online online gambling site.

PlayAlberta launched in 2021 after Canadian lawmakers changed the criminal code to allow for single-event sports wagering.

What’s next for Alberta sports betting

Nally said the discussions on the market’s framework are ongoing. 

That includes conversations with the province’s 45 First Nations and commercial land-based casino operators. Those discussions will run through the summer, Nally said.

“We drew a line in the sand in 2019 and said we would be partners with indigenous communities,” Nally said. “We want them to be a part of the prosperity.” 

What will be different in Alberta? 

In Ontario, there is tension between First Nations and the provincial government, including a recent court case. This month, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the Mohawk Council of Kahnawàke‘s case, which sought to defend its sovereignty in gambling.

Nally said he wants the First Nations involved as a form of “economic reconciliation.” 

He also said, unlike Ontario, he wants Alberta’s 29 land-based casinos to be directly linked to the online market. Nelly did not specify if that means tethering licenses to casinos or some other type of connection.

Ontario’s first two years

In its second year of commercial online gambling, Ontario bettors wagered CAD$63 billion, a 78% increase over the first year, according to a market report released in April Operators generated CAD$2.4 billion in revenue, a 72% year-over-year increase.

Then Jay-Z, whose entertainment company Roc Nation is partnering with SL Green and Caesar’s on the Times Square casino bid, posted an open letter on Instagram, pleading with New Yorkers to pick him.

“This is too important of a moment in our city’s illustrious history” the letter warned. New Yorkers should go with an operator who puts them “at the top of their agenda.”

Companies getting crazy and push for Casino in New York city

New Yorkers may be forgiven for having some doubts that a Times Square casino would really have their best interests at heart. Especially as the biggest sweetener — $115 million for diverse theater programs that include daycare for Broadway workers — seems aimed at softening up a group of Broadway owners who’ve been trying to block the Times Square casino.

(Nor is it the first time Jay-Z has been deployed to win over casino skeptics: “I remember one of the companies excitedly told me about Jay-Z. ‘He’s coming on board. Maybe you want to meet him?’”  state senator Liz Krueger told Bloomberg earlier this year.)

It’s been a few months since New York opened the bidding process for the three downstate casino licenses, and billionaires have spent much of that time falling all over themselves to win New York City’s.

Right now, real-estate giants like Related and SL Green, hedge-funder/Mets owner Steve Cohen, real estate scion Steven Soloviev, and Coney Island magnate Joe Sitt have all thrown down a $1 million application fee to be in the running.

They’ll need to win over a six-member community advisory committee, then spend $500 million on the license and another $500 million in capital investment. It’s up to the applicants to figure out what kind of proposal and community perks package will persuade the committee to pick them, which leaves a lot of room for creativity.

Alberta has been confirmed as the latest Canadian province to consider opening up a regulated online gaming market, audiences at the Canadian Gaming Summit were told.

On Thursday, June 20, Dale Nally, Alberta Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction, revealed that the province is officially moving forward with plans to open its own regulated market.

“Let me tell you a little bit about what our gaming site is going to look like,” Nally said. “It’s going to be very similar to Ontario, because we’re following their model. As far as I’m concerned, they build the roadmap. We’ll massage it a little bit but it’s been inspired by the experience in Ontario. It’s going to be an open and free market.”

Despite being the only regulated gaming operator in the province, Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis, which operates the PlayAlberta brand, will not oversee the regulated operators in the province, Nally confirmed.

Nally noted that operators wishing to enter the province would likely feel uneasy about cooperating with the AGLC and sharing data and information with a group that is essentially a competitor.

Alberta could replicate Ontario’s approach to avoid this issue, where iGaming Ontario works separately from regulator Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to conduct and manage individual gaming operations in the province.

Building on existing relationships between Alberta’s land-based gambling industry and the First Nations, Nally mentioned that the First Nations in the province will be involved in the marketplace as well.

Nally provided no timeline for the market opening, but did ensure that the legal steps are already in place for Danielle Smith, Alberta Premier, to move forward.

The announcement follows on from a bill that was passed into legislature in Alberta last month to confirm the province’s ability to conduct and manage gaming as they see fit, opening the door for an open market.

Senate Bill S-269, introduced by Senator Marty Deacon, aims to establish a national framework for regulating sports betting advertisements in Canada. Deacon, a member of the Independent Senators Group, noted that previous efforts to legalize gambling did not address the subsequent increase in advertising.

With approximately 16 months left before the next election in October 2025, time is limited for Parliament to pass Bill S-269. The bill must progress through the Senate and the House of Commons before an election call, which would dissolve the current legislative session.

Deacon believes the bill needs to reach the House by Christmas to have a chance of passing in this Parliament. There is general support for the legislation, but the timeline remains tight.

The governing Liberals have expressed their anticipation for the bill’s arrival in the House.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge acknowledged the widespread concern about the impacts of online gambling advertising on young people and other vulnerable groups.

The Bloc Québécois and Green Party also plan to review the bill when it reaches the House while the Green Party is still in the process of discussing the legislation within its caucus.

The NCAA has seen some success in its efforts to curb prop betting. Ten states – Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana (effective August 1st, 2024), Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont – have all enacted bans on prop bets involving college athletes.

These bans vary slightly in scope, but all aim to eliminate the opportunity for wagers based on individual player performance. This growing list of states demonstrates a willingness to address the concerns raised by the NCAA and prioritize the integrity of college athletics.

"Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity and competition and leading to student athletes and professional athletes getting harassed. The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets." Charlie BakerNCAA President