BetMGM says Alberta is attracting new sports bettors faster than Ontario did, just three months after the province launched its regulated iGaming market on July 13, 2026.

Company executives made the comparison during an October 13 business update. The result gives Alberta’s new private-operator model an early test, even though the province has roughly one-third of Ontario’s population.

Alberta delivered a strong launch quarter

About 20% of BetMGM’s new players acquired in the third quarter came from Alberta, Chief Financial Officer Gary Deutsch said.

Deutsch said Alberta’s acquisition pace exceeded the company’s internal forecasts and rose faster than the trajectory BetMGM had modelled after entering Ontario.

Chief Executive Officer Adam Greenblatt said Alberta’s return on investment and per-player indicators were also trending above the levels seen after the Ontario launch.

BetMGM has not published a full Alberta market-share figure. The early comparison is based on the company’s internal performance measures, not province-wide regulator data, according to Canadian Gaming Business.

“About 20% of the new players we acquired in the third quarter were from Alberta,” Gary Deutsch said during BetMGM’s October 13 business update.

Revenue rose across BetMGM’s wider business

BetMGM reported US$216 million in online sports net revenue for the third quarter, up 7% from the same period in 2025.

  • Total net revenue reached US$710 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA rose 112% year over year to US$86 million.

These figures cover BetMGM’s wider North American business, not Alberta alone. The company did not separate the province’s revenue, betting handle or active-player totals in its business update.

That leaves Alberta’s precise financial contribution unknown. The figures show strong company-wide growth, but they do not prove that Alberta alone drove the increase, as detailed in BetMGM’s investor update.

Why Alberta may be moving faster

BetMGM executives pointed to Alberta’s experienced gaming audience. Before regulation, many Albertans used offshore platforms and were already familiar with online betting products.

Alberta’s regulated market launched on July 13 with approved operators required to register with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission, or AGLC, and sign a commercial agreement with the Alberta iGaming Corporation.

AGLC oversees regulation. The Alberta iGaming Corporation conducts and manages the commercial market, according to the corporation’s launch announcement.

The system also brings player-protection requirements into the comparison. Registered operators must support tools including:

  • Age verification
  • Deposit and time limits
  • Centralized self-exclusion

Alberta is competing for customers while trying to move activity from offshore sites into a monitored system. That makes regulated participation, not just rapid sign-ups, an important measure of the market’s success.

The Ontario comparison has limits

Ontario’s regulated market has had years to mature. Alberta’s figures cover only its launch quarter.

Early registrations can be lifted by launch publicity, brand awareness and concentrated marketing. They do not show whether Alberta can maintain the same pace after the first wave of sign-ups.

BetMGM also entered Alberta with experience gained in Ontario. The company says that operational knowledge, stronger products and an audience familiar with sports betting helped it scale faster.

The next test is retention. Alberta will need to show whether new players remain active, whether regulated operators can attract more customers from offshore sites and whether player-protection tools keep pace as competition grows.

What the early numbers mean

  • Alberta launched its regulated iGaming market on July 13, 2026.
  • About 20% of BetMGM’s new third-quarter players came from Alberta.
  • BetMGM said Alberta’s per-player metrics were ahead of its post-launch Ontario experience.
  • BetMGM’s online sports net revenue rose 7% year over year to US$216 million in the third quarter.
  • BetMGM has not disclosed Alberta-specific revenue or market-share figures.
Alberta’s early result suggests that a private sportsbook market can attract customers quickly. The harder question is whether that growth will continue inside the protections built into the province’s new system.