Connor McDavid's ongoing success likely kept the sports betting business in Alberta pretty brisk this spring, whether that wagering was done using the sole provincially regulated option or elsewhere.
Key takeaways
- Another extensive Edmonton Oilers' playoff run is likely sending plenty of business to the province's only authorized online sportsbook, Play Alberta, as well as to its non-provincially regulated competitors.
- However, given the recent passage of iGaming legislation in Alberta, this may be the last Stanley Cup Playoff where Play Alberta is the Western Canadian province's only authorized online sportsbook.
- A new competitive iGaming market could go live in Alberta before next year's NHL Playoffs and include multiple provincially-regulated operators.
The Edmonton Oilers are set to square off again against the Dallas Stars Wednesday night in the opening game of the NHL's Western Conference Final.
The matchup is likely to drive even more wagering toward Alberta's only authorized online sportsbook, Play Alberta, as well as its unregulated competitors.
This is, however, also setting up to be the last Oilers' playoff run where Play Alberta is the only entity authorized to offer online sports betting in Alberta.
Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, was passed by the provincial legislature earlier this month and received Royal Assent last week.
The legislation, which lays the legal foundation for a competitive market for online sports betting and casino gambling, now needs only to be proclaimed into effect by the provincial government.
Back at it today and just wanted to duly note that the iGaming Alberta Act received Royal Assent last week, an important and yet totally ceremonial and automatic step for the legislation. pic.twitter.com/d0h66xDdoY
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 20, 2025
Bill 48’s passage and comments the province’s iGaming minister made suggest the new competitive market and the multiple private-sector operators that will inhabit it could go live by the first quarter of 2026. In other words, right in time for next year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The NHL Playoffs have been good in the past for the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), the public-sector entity that owns Play Alberta, the sole online gambling platform the province currently regulates.
Last June, with the Oilers heading into a Stanley Cup Final they would eventually lose, the AGLC reported Play Alberta "continues to see tremendous interest in hockey markets" from local bettors.
“There's a fever pitch going on in the city,” said Dan Keene, vice president of gaming for the AGLC, in an interview with Covers. “Many Albertans have gotten on the Oilers and we continue to see a lot of action.”
Two minutes well worth it
Another year came and went since then, and Play Alberta is still the only provincially authorized online gambling platform in the province.
The AGLC continued to upgrade the platform as well, including launching a mobile app for users. That and another Oilers' playoff run likely provide Play Alberta with a healthy handle bump.
Those enhancements are also helping Play Alberta compete against its unofficial competition at the moment. These so-called “grey market” operators may be regulated abroad or outside the province, but not by Alberta itself.
Moreover, if Play Alberta is getting a bump in business because of the Oilers, its non-provincially regulated competitors are likely seeing the same.
However, Alberta plans to regulate private-sector online sportsbook and casino betting site operators, some of which may already take bets from Albertans.
When that happens, and Bill 48 will help make it happen, this officially puts Play Alberta in competition against other provincially authorized operators. Exactly how many remains to be seen, but province will impose no limit.
'Preyed' by grey
This could make next year's NHL playoffs a much more crucial affair for Play Alberta, which may be one of potentially many provincially regulated options for bettors.
Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally, Bill 48's sponsor, noted during debate on the bill in April that Play Alberta contributed around $235 million to the province's general fund the past year, up more than $42 million from the previous year.
“As you might imagine, some of that spike was the result of the extra business brought by the Edmonton Oilers’ fun and exciting playoff run all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup,” Nally told his fellow lawmakers.
More Alberta sports betting/iGaming details:
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) March 27, 2025
-Launch TBD
-18+
-AGLC to regulate, "Alberta iGaming Corporation" to be "conduct and manage" entity
-centralized self-exclusion
Alberta Introduces Bill to Allow New Sports Betting, iGaming Sites https://t.co/I9AU1nsJNj@Covers
Nally, however, went on to outline one of the main reasons why Alberta wants to launch a competitive iGaming market, which is that Play Alberta may only account for approximately 45% of the province's online gambling activity.
It’s possible Play Alberta’s market share is even lower than 45% as well. Testimony to an Alberta legislative committee last November suggested the platform's share could be in the ballpark of 30% to 40% of online gambling in the Western Canadian province.
With Bill 48 and the regulations that follow, the Alberta government is trying to bring that 60% to 70% of other activity under provincial regulation.
“In other words, there are a significant number of Albertans who are potentially being preyed upon by grey market sites or illicit sites,” Nally said in April. “This legislation [Bill 48] proposes to change that.”
