Betsson Opens Alberta Door with Rhino Deal

As Canada’s regulated iGaming market continues to rapidly expand, Sweden’s Betsson wraps up its purchase of Rhino Entertainment’s Canadian business operations. First announced in March, the deal sees Betsson purchase mature, operating casino sites that have been active in Ontario since 2023. These include Casino Days, which was just licensed in Alberta as well.

Strategic Acquisition Bolsters Operations

Beyond the consumer-facing brands, the company will also acquire Rhino’s middleware and proprietary front-end tech stacks. Many analysts expect this move will allow Betsson to strengthen its licensing revenue and its all-important B2B offerings across the country. This comes at a crucial time, as many large, global gaming operators are beginning to look beyond the immediate opportunities in just Ontario and Alberta.

Mounting Pressure on Provincial Monopolies

Industry pressure continues to mount in Quebec, where operators argue the province is leaving more than CA$300 million in annual tax revenue lying on the table while reaching only 50% of the province’s players. In British Columbia, the Canadian Online Gaming Alliance (COGA) continues to try and persuade provincial lawmakers that the Ontario model would be more beneficial than the current PlayNow platform, which is operated as a state-run monopoly.

All of this is to say that Betsson not only timed the market almost perfectly for the Alberta launch, but is also extremely well-positioned in both the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) verticals if—or more likely when—other provinces decide to expand their iGaming options. Their nearly $75 million purchase is probably as much about tomorrow's opportunities as it is about today’s market.

Capitalizing on the Current iGaming Boom

That isn’t to say there isn’t plenty of money to be made right now. Ontario reported US$5.9 billion in casino handle in June across 48 operators running more than 80 online casinos in Canada. The province boasted more than 1.3 million active users and an average revenue per account of just over US$215.

Alberta’s Growing Addressable Market

Alberta has a slightly smaller addressable market of around 900,000 to 1 million digital gamblers. However, it's highly likely that over the next 12 months, they too will be boasting monthly casino handles in the billions across the nearly four dozen operators that have already been licensed.

Positioning for Tomorrow's Regulatory Landscape

How long it takes Betsson to ultimately realize the full value of its investment will depend on how Canada’s regulatory landscape evolves. Ontario, however, has already proven that a competitive, free market can generate billions in wagering while moving players from unregulated operators to taxed and licensed ones. Alberta will now attempt to validate that model once more; if it works, it will likely put pressure on other provinces to seriously reconsider their own monopoly practices.

Waiting on the sidelines was never going to be a palatable option for Betsson. By jumping feet-first into establishing a meaningful presence in Canada’s first two competitive iGaming markets, the company’s investment may be remembered less for what it cost today and more for how perfectly it leaves Betsson positioned for tomorrow.