In Canada and the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) regulator has announced that it is now accepting bids from companies that may wish to enter the prairie province’s coming legalized retail sportsbetting market.

The crown corporation used an official Friday press release to detail that hopefuls may now apply for a pair of initial licenses via the?provincial government’s Alberta Purchasing Connection tool before a January 31 deadline with the intent of being able to go live before the end of 2022.

Refreshing revision:

The AGLC has been tasked with bringing legalized retail and online sportsbetting to ‘Wild Rose Country’ following the passage of federal legislation in June that permits provinces to license operators for the purposes of supplying local aficionados with the ability to lodge single-game wagers on a wide range of sports including football, baseball and ice hockey. This measure, which was colloquially known as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, invalidated a previous program that had only allowed Canadian punters to place parlay bets containing a minimum of three separate results.

Starting stage:

Kandice Machado (pictured) serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer for the AGLC and she pronounced that beginning the process to select the jurisdiction’s first licensed retail sportsbetting operator ‘is another exciting step for sports fans in the province’. The regulator declared that her organization also intends to certify firms for the supply of analogous mobile-friendly online services by the end of next year and is maintaining ‘ongoing communication’ with the Alberta Sports Coalition, which is an enterprise that represents the local Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks sports franchises.

Read a statement from Machado…

“The AGLC is proud to facilitate this next step that will involve the existing casino and racing entertainment center industry while working with Alberta’s major professional sports teams. Continuing this work is an important step in offering consumers convenience and choice in their gambling entertainment options.”

Promising prospects:

The AGLC asserted that it is to moreover continue monitoring ‘other provincial lottery markets’ all while gathering feedback from the embryonic sportsbetting industry in Alberta so as to potentially ‘safely expand vendor opportunities in the future.’ The watchdog proclaimed that it is seeking two prospective retail licensees ‘as a first step in this process’ and may subsequently ‘consider additional opportunities as the market continues to develop.’

A statement from the AGLC read…

“While this approach supports the goal of expanding the market in the future, it also recognizes the province’s requirement to ‘conduct and manage’ commercial gaming activities set out in the Criminal Code of Canada. Work is ongoing to support these efforts and the AGLC will be reaching out to stakeholders to continue expanding access in a safe and legal manner.”