Corporate expectations for when Alberta might launch its new, competitive iGaming market are growing more bullish.
- Companies, including Super Group, now expect Alberta could launch its regulated iGaming market in the second quarter of 2026, earlier than previously forecast.
- Some brands are preparing to transition from the “grey” market into the new provincial framework, which will be similar to Ontario's model.
- The launch will expand Alberta’s provincially regulated iGaming options beyond the Play Alberta platform and open the door to private operators like BetMGM, DraftKings, and Betway.
Super Group is the latest company to offer a sooner-than-previously-expected timeline for the Western Canadian province to launch its new regulatory framework, which will authorize and tax private-sector operators of online sportsbooks and casinos.
The online gambling company, which owns the Betway and Spin brands, now anticipates that Alberta’s competitive iGaming market will roll out in the second quarter of 2026.
That could mean April, May, or June. It’s sooner than Super Group had previously guided for in an investor day presentation in September, which suggested the launch would happen in the second half of 2026.
Super Group, Betway's parent company, has baked into its 2026 estimates a Q2 launch of online sports betting and iCasino in Alberta's yet-to-launch regulated iGaming market. pic.twitter.com/TlAypxbsDe
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 24, 2026
Super Group also included its Alberta sports betting and iGaming expectations in the 2026 financial guidance it released Monday evening.
For this year, the company is forecasting total revenue of more than $2.55 billion and adjusted earnings of at least $680 million. Those would be increases from the $2.23 billion in revenue and $560 million in adjusted EBITDA that Super Group reported for 2025.
“Alberta continues to show solid growth, and we are preparing for regulation in Q2,” Super Group CEO Neal Menashe said during his company’s latest quarterly earnings call Tuesday.
Super Group is indeed taking bets already in Alberta, albeit as a "grey" operator without any official provincial permission. However, the company plans to transition its business there into the new, regulated market for private-sector operators that the provincial government and regulators intend to launch later this year.
The plan for Betway and Spin in Alberta will be similar to what was done in Ontario in 2022, when Super Group migrated its operations and customers out of the “grey” market and into the provincially regulated one. While Ontario is still the only province in Canada to permit private-sector operators, Alberta intends to roll out a pretty similar regulatory framework.
Menashe’s comments follow those of Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz, who said last week that an earlier-than-expected launch in Alberta for BetRivers could be possible toward the end of the second quarter.
Are you ready to launch before some football?
There has been a bit of uncertainty in the past around the timetable for Alberta's iGaming strategy. However, the recent statements by the C-suite executives, the fact that some operators are already signing up customers, and comments by the province’s de facto iGaming minister all point to the province launching its new, competitive iGaming market well before the next NFL season.
That will take Alberta from one provincially regulated option for iGaming, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s Play Alberta, to hopefully many.
Brands such as BetMGM, DraftKings, and Betway are poised to be among the new entities that Alberta will authorize for online sports betting and iCasino. There is no limit to the number of companies the province could license.
Menashe suggested on Tuesday that his company intends to launch early on in the Alberta market, rather than waiting for a few months as it did in Ontario. While Alberta plans on giving operators some time to transition into the regulated market, it won't wait forever.
Furthermore, the Super Group CEO suggested the promo battle among operators in Alberta may not be as fierce as it was in Ontario in 2022.
“I think we saw lots of heavy marketing activity early on in Ontario,” Menashe said. “I'm not sure that all the competitors can keep spending as they have been spending, so we think that will be a more rational, competitive environment.”
