Alberta iGaming Operators Ready for July 13 Market Launch

To get an early jump on business in Alberta as the province’s regulated igaming market prepares to launch July 13, several major operators are set to go live that day while announcing new community initiatives focused on market share and customer acquisition.

The latest is FanDuel Canada, which this morning announced its planned Alberta market entry, tying that announcement to investments in local communities and a renewal of its partnership with the Canadian Football League (CFL) in a multi-year agreement.

There are two CFL franchises in the province – the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Elks.

Operators Ready to Launch

“Meaningful community engagement remains at the heart of everything we do,” said Dale Hooper, General Manager, FanDuel Canada.

FanDuel is donating $50,000 to the A Dollar A Day Foundation to help bridge the gap between funding and frontline mental health programs in Alberta. The company is also donating $30,000 to the Canada Red Cross Emergency Management Program in Alberta to help communities prepare for disasters.

Also today, DraftKings announced it was donating $150,000 to Food Banks Alberta, to help provide more than 40,000 pounds of food through the organization’s food allotment program, distributing essential supplies to local food banks across the province.

Community Investment Begins

According to Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC), the provincial regulator, as of July 7, 49 operators had successfully completed the registration process and paid their fees. Those operators, like FanDuel, are finishing the dual-step process with Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC) to be ready to go live July 13.

On June 18, AGLC released its Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming, outlining what it expects from licensed operators in areas including regulatory oversight, responsible gambling, supplier standards, and IT and security requirements. Many of the standards closely resemble those already in place in Ontario, which launched its regulated igaming market in April 2022. 

Ontario Model Adopted

“We believe that we have the fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Alberta,” said Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction for the Government of Alberta, at SBC Summit Canada in May. “That means we need gambling to be as safe and responsible as possible, and that’s only going to happen in a regulated environment. 

“We watched what they did in Ontario, and quite frankly, Albertans were saying to us, why are you not doing what they’re doing in Ontario? We looked at what’s going on in Ontario, and were smart enough to know we didn’t have to recreate the wheel on this one.

“We have taken a lot of what we’ve been doing in Alberta from the Ontario experience, but we’re doing a few things differently because we’re Alberta, and we want to put a bit of an Alberta perspective on it,” he said.

Responsible Gambling Focus

That gives operators already active in Ontario an advantage, as many of the regulatory requirements will already be familiar.

The biggest similarities with Ontario include a split regulator/market-operator model. In Alberta, the AGLC will serve as regulator, with the AiGC overseeing market operations. 

Like Ontario, responsible gambling is a big priority. Alberta operators must identify and intervene in high-risk behavior, offer deposit and time limits, and remind players about safer play tools. The province is launching with a centralized self-exclusion platform across the regulated online gaming and land-based gambling out of the gate. Ontario just launched their own centralized system, BetGuard, in May, four years after the market launched.

Advertising Rules Tighten

Alberta will also have Ontario-style advertising guardrails, restricting advertising directed at minors and self-excluded or high-risk players, while imposing strict rules governing public bonus and inducement advertising, except through direct communications to players who have signed up, and on operators’ own websites.

Active and retired athletes may only appear in advertising promoting responsible gambling. During Ontario’s first year, the market saw a high volume of advertising, including ads featuring Wayne Gretzky, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, and Alphonso Davies. New standards governing the use of athletes came into effect in February 2024.

Betway recently introduced a responsible gambling ad featuring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That’s the type of advertising Albertans can expect to see when the market launches.