Banff and the Canadian Rockies. Hockey, as in the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. The Calgary Stampede.
Those things are likely about all that come to mind when an American thinks about Alberta, the fourth-biggest Canadian province by population, which shares a border with Montana.
But Monday, all gambling eyes in North America will be on Alberta, the first North American jurisdiction to launch live sports betting or iGaming since Missouri went live with online sports betting in December 2025.
FanDuel executives believe there is so much more to know. The company Wednesday confirmed its plans to enter the market, with preregistration now open.
“I was out there this weekend,” FanDuel Marketing Vice President Tom Burdakin told InGame. “The sports fans are sophisticated and passionate, and they know so much about their teams.”
Ahead of launch, Burdakin and his team visited five Alberta cities — Calgary (home of the annual Stampede and NHL Flames), Canmore (Canadian Rockies views and killer winter sports venues), Edmonton (NHL Oilers and countless festivals), Fort McMurray (Northern Lights and oil), and Red Deer (water sports and outdoors). The group traveled in a FanDuel-branded “Thrillberta” Bronco and invited local residents to participate in a trivia competition dubbed the “Thrillionaire Questionnaire.”
Each locale, Burdakin said, has its own distinct personality, and FanDuel will do its best to meet Albertans where they are.
“We want to show up in the market asking the question of trying to understand the customers, as opposed to come into the market like we know them,” he said.
During the June road trip, the highest-scoring contestant from each location was invited to participate in the Thrillionaire Questionnaire Finale, set for July 25 in Calgary. Beginning Wednesday, FanDuel began sharing what it learned about Alberta’s cities and people on Instagram. The contest features $20,000 in prize money, which will be split between the winner and a “charity or community cause.”
The company has dubbed the province “Thrillberta,” which might be apt since 49 online gambling platforms — including at least 10 online sports betting platforms — were registered with the province as of last Friday. Those entities will join the state-run Play Alberta. Most major U.S. wagering operators are among the registrants.
What makes Alberta unique
Every new legal sports betting jurisdiction has its idiosyncrasies. Alberta’s legal betting age of 18 will be as low as any in North America. Ontario, the only other Canadian province with live online gambling, set the age at 19, while the majority of U.S. states use a minimum of 21.
Beyond that, the province won’t allow political betting, which is legal in Ontario. The tax structure will be slightly different than in Ontario. The province will take 3% off the top of all operator net revenue — 2% for First Nations (Canada’s indigenous people) and 1% for responsible gaming — and then will take 20% of what’s left as a tax for other purposes. Operators will keep the rest as their revenue.
On most other regulatory matters, Alberta will follow Ontario — promotions must be limited to the platform or app and not distributed generally to the public. No athletes or celebrities (particularly those who appeal to children) can be used in general advertising, and there can be no hint that using a promotion will improve a player’s odds of winnings.
Essentially, compliance should be fairly straightforward as operators have been down similar paths before. For FanDuel, at least, the focus then is on the product and customer. Burdakin said he believes FanDuel will bring best-in-class products to Alberta, and it will support those, in part, through a partnership with the Canadian Football League (CFL) — which will play its Grey Cup championship in Calgary in November. The company also partners with TSN, which has most broadcast rights to the CFL.
Oil and gas money
While Alberta is the fourth-largest Canadian province by population, its per capita average market income is the second highest in the country and its per capital GDP is the third highest. The average Albertan earns CA$44,916 per year, CA$3,500 more than the national average. Ontario is behind Alberta in both categories.
A key reason is the plethora of natural resources, with abundant oil and gas key to the economy and boosting incomes.
For sportsbooks — or really any industry entering Alberta — those numbers are of interest. Generally speaking, a higher per capita income could translate into a higher per capita sportsbook or casino spend.
Burdakin said there are “many dynamics and layers to customer segmentation,” and the financial piece is just one of many. Sportsbooks also look at bettors’ behavioral patterns, how engaged in sports a region is, what the more popular sports are, and more.
To that end, sportsbooks will likely tweak their offerings in Alberta, as the province is home to two longtime NHL teams that have won a combined six Stanley Cups (five by Edmonton). And while Americans don’t bet much on the CFL, Canadians bet on that in addition to the NFL.
