Rush Street Interactive Inc. is keen to bring its “casino-first” strategy to Alberta, and BetRivers' parent company believes it could get that opportunity even earlier than it previously expected.
- Rush Street Interactive believes Alberta could launch a regulated online sports betting and iCasino market by the end of June, creating a significant new opportunity for its BetRivers brand.
- Alberta regulators are developing a competitive framework that will expand beyond Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s Play Alberta to include private operators such as BetRivers, PointsBet, and DraftKings.
- RSI is especially optimistic about the iCasino segment, citing its profitable track record in other North American markets and strong performance in Ontario as reasons for confidence.
Richard Schwartz, CEO of the online gambling company, said Tuesday that Alberta’s work on a competitive iGaming market “is progressing toward a launch timeline that could occur in the coming quarters, sooner than we were anticipating during our last earnings call.”
“This represents a significant opportunity for us to leverage our success in other North American online casino markets, particularly given our strong performance in Ontario and our established and growing brand recognition across Canada,” Schwartz said.
The RSI CEO added more specifics during the question-and-answer period of the company's latest earnings call, saying that the Alberta sports betting and iCasino launch could happen around the end of June.
“We're hopeful, and it looks like the regulators there are moving at a very determined pace,” Schwartz said on Tuesday. “It looks like a Q2 opportunity is within the possibility towards the end of that quarter.”
Slots of fun
The C-suite's comments underscore the very real possibility that Alberta will allow private-sector iGaming operators to launch in its regulated market well before the next NFL season rolls around.
Alberta regulators are hard at work on the new regulatory framework, which will bring the number of authorized iGaming operators in the Western Canadian province from one, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s Play Alberta, to hopefully many.
BetRivers will be one of those operators, and it has already begun signing up customers ahead of launch day. Other notable brands plan to go live with online sports betting and iCasino in the province as well, such as DraftKings.
DraftKings feels pretty certain that the launch of its online sportsbook/casino in Alberta is "around the corner," and is forecasting its financials accordingly:https://t.co/1R5ZCywuHk @Covers
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 13, 2026
Chicago-based RSI is particularly enthused about a somewhat underdiscussed aspect of Alberta’s new iGaming market, which is that it will allow operators to offer both online sports betting and online casino gambling.
The iCasino side of the iGaming market is a big selling point for Alberta, and especially so for a “casino-first” brand like BetRivers. Alberta is also following the example of Ontario for its iGaming market. There, the majority of wagering and revenue stems from online casino gambling, including the products offered by RSI's BetRivers, which is a licensed operator in the province.
For example, Ontario reported nearly $8.3 billion in cash wagers via its regulated online casinos this past December, compared to about $1.1 billion for its mobile sportsbooks.
Kyle Sauers, president and chief financial officer for RSI, said the company's share of the online casino market in Ontario “is kind of mid- to low-single digits,” while its online sports betting share is a “little bit lower.”
“The other thing I would just point out, and we've mentioned this before, but every North American online casino market that we've launched in, we've been profitable by the fourth quarter of operations,” Sauers added. “And we don't see a reason that that should be different with Alberta. So we're very excited to have another iCasino market launching in the near future here.”
