Alberta Adapting Best of Ontario Sports Betting, iGaming Regulations For Launch

• Alberta recently debuted its first standards and requirements for iGaming
• The province is mirroring the success Ontario has shown through its own regulations
• Certain prohibitions on promotions, celebrities and athletes used in advertising, and responsible gaming measures will go into place

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Alberta saw the success of Ontario’s sports betting and iGaming market and quickly decided there was no reason to fix what is not broken.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC) recently unveiled the first standards and requirements for its own iGaming and sports betting market, with officials declaring it would closely resemble several of Ontario’s unique regulations to better protect its markets.

When Alberta eventually launches its own market, the result will be one that heavily puts an emphasis on player protection, responsible gaming measures, and a completely different promotional landscape when compared with the United States, offering similar challenges for licensed operators as they are currently experience in Ontario.

Stringent Guidelines for Responsible Gaming in Alberta

Dale Nally, Alberta’s minister of service and red tape reduction, has mentioned throughout the province’s journey to legalize both iGaming and sports betting that it would closely mirror the success Ontario has displayed in protecting its players and limiting the barrage of advertisements that have become commonplace in the industry.

The newly established regulatory framework in the province will seek to ensure Alberta’s sports betting consumers, and underage citizens, are protected when the market launches later this year.

“For Albertans who choose not to gamble, the best option is to not start. With unregulated iGaming widely available in our province, it is our responsibility to step in, regulate the market, and hold private providers to the highest standards to protect Albertans, particularly our youth,” Nally recently said.

So what does this mean? Sports betting and iGaming advertising will be prohibited from including materials directed at underage Albertans or be located in the direct vicinity of schools or places oriented towards people younger than the age of 18.

Cartoon characters, social media influencers, role models, and those used to appeal to underage citizens will also be banned from advertisements.

Additionally, Alberta will also match Ontario’s ban on current and retired athletes being used in sports betting promotions. Ontario has a ban in place with disallows athletes or retired athletes from being used in advertisement, unless the promotion is heavily geared towards a responsible gaming message.

It’s a stark contrast to the U.S. market, which features current and retired sports legends in promotional and advertising materials. While some states, such as Massachusetts, have regulations in place that ban advertising from locations that may be in direct vicinity of underage gamblers, most do not go to the lengths Ontario and Alberta do to protect vulnerable populations from their markets.

Operators will also have to take responsibility for the advertisements and promotions from any third-party partner they may have and could face fines or loss of license for their actions.

Promotional Alberta Sports Betting Landscape Completely Different

One of the biggest differences between the U.S. and Alberta’s proposed sports betting market? The way its licensed operators can promote incentives and bonuses is much more restricted in the province.

Under law, license operators cannot advertise potential bonuses or promotions to customers unless they have opted in to receiving advertisements with these types of promotions. Television, internet, radio, and social media advertisements will restrict these types of promotional messages as means to entice customers to specific sports betting platforms.

The advertisements will also be limited to the license holders own platforms and will be prohibited from third-party websites. This certainly limits advertising in the province, as third-party business commonly advertise sports betting promotions, bonuses, and incentives for sports betting companies in return for compensation for each signed up customer.

It is a very common strategy in the U.S. for licensed operators to entice customers to use their platforms, which will be severely restricted in Alberta. Operators will have to depend on more traditional forms of advertising and not use these specific promotions to lure users to their services.

Operators will have to find new, creative ways to advertise their services to users that depend more on overall experience of use rather than the best promotions, incentives, or bonuses for new users.

Sports Betting in Alberta by the Spring?

While a launch date for online sports betting and iGaming has yet to be set in the province, the new rules promulgated by Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC) sets the necessary framework and requirements for operators to receive a license. These new regulations pave the way for operators such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook to do business in Alberta, much like they currently do in Ontario.

Nally noted in an interview with the Edmonton Journal he expects to see the market go live in “a few months.”

Nally’s bill was approved in the spring and is loosely based on Ontario’s legalization model. It allows for multiple private-sector operators to do business in Alberta, allowing those operating in the gray market to license themselves in the province. It also establishes the Alberta iGaming Corporation to regulate, license, and oversee the operations of iGaming.

PlayAlberta is currently the only legal Alberta sports betting app and regulated iGaming site in the province, it is not necessarily the only operator currently in the province. A number of operators are currently offering gaming in Alberta as part of the gray market, where they offer their games to Canadian sports bettors and customers but the government collects no tax revenues from their services.

Under the bill, licenses operators will have to pay 20% of net gaming revenue to the province, while keeping the remaining 80%.