“Don’t screw up what you’ve built in the past 20 years, which is a well-developed, well-penetrated market.” Is Alberta the new gold rush? “It’s always been a gold rush,but we have to do our homework.”
In light of the Alberta government’s review of potential paths towards a commercial gaming industry, and Minister Dale Nally’s declaration that the province will follow an Ontario-style open model, that question was posed to numerous experts at the past 2024 Canadian Gaming Summit.
The consensus was that the size of the opportunity is huge and the potential “tremendous.”
According to figures Alberta gaming generated over $2.9 billion last year with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis and its Play Alberta platform as the only regulated operator. That number, is expected to soar by $1.5 billion in 2024 with commercial gaming potentially on the horizon.
Critics called Alberta “one of the most penetrated gaming jurisdictions in North America.” Even though Play Alberta holds a monopoly over licensed gaming, the province’s gaming market is certainly mature. Experts at CGS noted that the province has a sizeable core of gamblers who have been betting online for years. Estimates suggest more than half of that activity is done on unregulated sites.
Ontario charts the path
One only needs to look at Ontario, to understand the potential rewards of bringing that grey-market activity under regulated oversight.
Industry consultant Troy Ross noted on a separate panel titled Alberta’s iGaming Evolution that the Ontario model has proven to work “infinitely better than we thought it would,” reaching a channelisation rate of over 80% within the first year.
“If Alberta follows a very similar regime with a similar type of regulatory principles and a similar tax rate, it is going to get a similar result,” he said.
Ontario is three times the population of Alberta and home of Canada’s only MLB and NBA team. It recorded $1.5 billion in operator revenue in its second full year of operation. According to Citizens JMP Securities projections, Alberta’s forthcoming iGaming market could generate more than $950 million a year in revenue by the third year.
Albertans ready to spend
In addition to the low corporate taxes mentioned by Nally in his speech, many experts cited the high disposable income of the Alberta population as a factor that should benefit an open market.
Data shows that Albertans typically have anywhere between 22-25% more of their paycheques left over after taxes, rent or mortgage payments and other necessary spending than people in the rest of Canada. That data also suggests Albertans spend anywhere between 30-35% more on games of chance than residents of any other province due to a combination of factors including high income and the widespread availability of VLTs across the province.
Article developed by By Tom Nightingale
