Nally: Alberta Government to Collect $76M from First-Year iGaming

The Alberta government is looking to generate $76 million in proceeds from the first year of regulated igaming, according to Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally, shared via the Edmonton Journal.

The new market goes live July 13. According to Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis, the provincial regulator, as of June 26, 47 operators had successfully completed the registration process and paid their initial fees to AGLC. The operators still need to finish the dual-step process with Alberta iGaming Corporation to be ready for July 13.

Revenue Target Takes Shape

Operators pay a one-time CAD $50,000 application fee, and a CAD $150,000 annual fee per igaming site, with several operators bringing multiple sites into the market.

Alberta’s revenue split is a little different than the one in Ontario’s regulated market, where 20% of net igaming revenue goes back to provincial government coffers. 

In Alberta, from gross gaming revenue (GGR), 2% goes to First Nations, and 1% for social responsibility initiatives. From the remaining net igaming revenue, 80% goes to operators, and 20% to the Alberta government.

How Alberta Gets Paid

Based on that formula, Nally is projecting CAD $390 million in first-year GGR.

In 2025, Ontario generated $4.04 billion in revenue. With the 20% that equates to approximately $807 million to the Ontario government. That doesn’t include igaming revenue generated by the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

Heavy hitters like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Betway, BetRivers and Bet365 have committed to the Alberta market.

Major Operators Ready

In Alberta, Play Alberta is the government-owned platform that will compete with private operators as of July 13.

“I like to put a few dollars on the Edmonton Oilers,” said Nally, at SBC Summit Canada in Toronto in May. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing a little bit of gambling. But if it becomes problematic, we’re going to have support systems for people. We want to have those protections in place. 

“Player safety is going to be at the forefront of everything that we do. That’s important to us in Alberta. We want gambling to be a safe pastime for people.”