Alberta will soon allow some of the biggest names in online gambling to legally take bets within its borders.
However, the province’s soon-to-launch iGaming market will also include smaller players, such as Indigenous casino owners who appear interested in dabbling in the digital world as well.
- Alberta’s new regulated iGaming market includes major sportsbooks and First Nations-linked casino operators like Indigenous Gaming Partners and River Cree iGaming.
- Some First Nations leaders worry expanded online gambling could reduce in-person casino revenue despite the province promising 2% of gross iGaming revenue to First Nations.
- Alberta’s model follows Ontario’s open iGaming market, where Indigenous-linked operators are already participating or aim to join soon.
A list of iGaming-related registrations published by the province's online gambling regulator, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), showed there were 28 total operator licensees as of May 15.
The licensee list includes several sizable companies that have previously made it clear they plan to participate in the regulated Alberta sports betting market, such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
Yet there are other, smaller entities signed up to join the Alberta iGaming market as well. Among them are two First Nations-related operators, with the possibility of others still to follow.
Partial list of already registered Alberta iGaming operators as of May 8 (means they are in line to launch in the province's regulated iGaming market on July 13):
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 11, 2026
BET99
Caesars
Bally's
BetMGM
Betway
DraftKings
Sports Interaction
FanDuel
PointsBet
BetRivers
theScore pic.twitter.com/xN7BbL6mvi
One already registered Alberta iGaming operator is Pure Casino Entertainment Limited Partnership, the operating entity of Indigenous Gaming Partners (IGP). The company is a coalition of five First Nations and casino manager and developer Sonco Gaming Inc.
IGP owns and operates several Alberta-based casinos, namely Pure Casino Edmonton, Pure Casino Yellowhead, Pure Casino Calgary, and Pure Casino Lethbridge. The company also announced at the end of March that it had struck a deal to buy Alberta-based casino owner Gamehost Inc.
The acquisition, once it closes, will give IGP seven total casinos in the Western Canadian province, which “further entrenches Pure’s position as the largest casino operator in Alberta,” a press release noted.
IGP’s iGaming registration suggests the company intends to offer online sports betting and/or online casino gambling in Alberta, too. It would give IGP a digital avenue that it could use to attract bettors to its brick-and-mortar properties, then use when they’re at home as well.
Another Alberta iGaming registrant as of May 15 was River Cree iGaming Limited, which appears connected to the Enoch Cree Nation’s River Cree Resort and Casino. Like IGP, the River Cree Casino could try to pair its physical casino business with a digital one when Alberta's regulated iGaming market goes live on July 13.
Positively negative
There have, however, been concerns raised by other First Nations about the arrival of a competitive iGaming market in Alberta. One concern is that more online gambling will mean less in-person gambling and harm the revenues of physical casino owners.
The Alberta government intends to direct 2% of gross iGaming revenue to First Nations, but that may not be enough to ease concerns.
“To say that this is being looked at is something positive, it's hard for us to see the positive in this right now,” Trevor Mercredi, the grand chief of the Treaty 8 First Nations, said last month, according to CBC.
It’s possible that other Indigenous operators try to get involved in Alberta’s regulated iGaming market. When the new regulatory framework goes live, it will bring the number of provincially authorized operators in Alberta from one, AGLC's Play Alberta, to many.
Alberta is modelling its iGaming framework after that of Ontario, which launched its competitive market in 2022 and now has more than 40 authorized operators. A couple of those operators (at least one current and one future) have ties to Native American tribes in the U.S.
Significant Ontario iGaming news: Hard Rock Bet is now a registered (licensed) operator. Not live yet in the province, but an Ontario iGaming license makes sense for Hard Rock after opening its Ottawa casino last year.
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 15, 2026
h/t @SNBET_ca who had it first. pic.twitter.com/2LtqC7uEUA
Most notably, the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribe offers its PlayFallsview site in Ontario. The branding is purposeful, as the tribe also operates Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara in the province.
According to Mohegan's second-quarter financial filings, gross gaming revenue, handle, deposits, and monthly active users for its Ontario digital business all rose year over year in the three months ended March 31.
Overall, Mohegan's digital business (which includes operations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania) reported record quarterly net revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the three-month period ended March 31, of $79.3 million and $39.7 million, respectively.
Also coming soon to Ontario should be the Seminole Tribe-owned Hard Rock Bet. The Florida-based tribe’s digital arm received an Ontario iGaming license last week.
Ratsénhaienhs Rice hosts inaugural First Peoples Gaming Association meeting in Torontohttps://t.co/sahWkWuMCG pic.twitter.com/wDwEeiU34Z
— MCK Public Relations (@MCKahnawake) May 19, 2026
Whether Hard Rock or Mohegan have an interest in joining the Alberta market remains to be seen. The same goes for the Quebec-based Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK), which has been weighing a possible return to the operator end of the online gambling business.
More insight into additional participants in the Alberta iGaming market may come this week at the SBC Summit Canada conference in Toronto. There, thousands of industry representatives will talk business and recent regulatory and government happenings.
At least one discussion panel on Thursday will focus specifically on First Nations-related developments: "Building Sovereignty: The Rise of First Nations Ownership and Innovation in Western Canada’s Gaming Sector."
Furthermore, a recently formed First Peoples Gaming Association (FPGA) will meet Tuesday for the first time ever in advance of the SBC conference.
The group was formed this year "to support First Nations’ sovereign and inherent right to gaming and is composed of First Nation leaders working collaboratively to exercise sovereignty and increase economic prosperity," an MGK press release noted.
