Alberta iGaming Transition Period Ends; Grey Market Officially Over

The three-month Alberta iGaming transition period has officially ended, starting the province’s new reality of open, regulated betting.

As of October 13, only regulated, approved wagers in Alberta are legally permissible. Any grey-market operators risk enforcement by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission (AGLC), which plans to shut down any providers offering wagers without commission approval.

The end of the grey market does not mean these sites must shut down operations. Instead, it means they must stop accepting wagers from customers in Alberta. Providers that were attempting to work through the Alberta iGaming transition period can still work toward legalization, but must cease accepting wagers until the transition has been completed.

In practice, this won’t have much of an effect on consumers, if at all. The AGLC has a full list of approved providers, and at least 50 operators have achieved approval from the commission. But for those providers, complying with the new rules is a must. If a company is found in violation of the rules, it can be declared unsuitable for regulation. Any provider meeting this declaration becomes permanently unable to register in Alberta.

What Has Come Out of the Alberta iGaming Transition?

The AGLC approved the timeline because it wanted to minimize disruptions for bettors. In practice, complying with new legislation takes several months to do it properly, especially when age and geographic verification are required.

The commission wanted to give good-faith efforts a reasonable amount of time to comply with the regulations. It also wanted to keep customers playing on sites that it knew would become part of the regulated iGaming market. Prior to the new rules, Alberta estimated that roughly 70% of gaming activity came on the grey market, rather than on the government-run iGaming sites.

So far, results seem promising. BetMGM’s recent figures show that the Alberta launch has been more effective for the company than when it launched in Ontario. According to BetMGM chief financial officer Gary Deutsch, 20% of the company’s new players in the last quarter came from Alberta.

Will the Market Continue to Grow?

It’s unclear. With 50 providers already registered and regulated, it would take a lot for a new provider to want to enter after the Alberta iGaming transition. In practice, the longer a provider waits to enter a market, the harder it is to do so. That’s even more accurate when the biggest names in the industry get into the market first.

At the end of the three-month period, all of the biggest names in the iGaming and sports betting industry have entered the Alberta market. BetMGM, Bet365, DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and Golden Nugget are just a handful of the names that have registered with the province and are now regulated. With those giants in the market, a new provider will have a lot to overcome to gain a foothold.

How Does the Upcoming Referendum Affect Things?

If the predictions are correct, Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum won’t have any impact. This vote would decide whether Alberta would begin the process of attempting to separate from Canada.

According to the polls, Remain is a heavy favorite, and Alberta voters have said they would like Premier Danielle Smith’s government to move on from separatist discussions if Remain wins. If that happens, Alberta’s laws on iGaming would be unchanged, as it would continue to be part of Canada indefinitely.

A Leave vote could open a new Alberta iGaming transition period, but not for years down the road. That vote would only begin the process of attempting to leave Canada, which takes multiple years to complete. In practice, iGaming customers wouldn’t see any impact unless Alberta actually got to the point of separating.