BetRivers isn’t content staying on your phone screen in Alberta. The Rush Street Interactive brand just struck a deal with Gateway Casinos & Entertainment that plants its flag inside two real casinos in Edmonton, giving it a foothold on the casino floor that no other operator in the province currently has.
Gateway is putting BetRivers front and center at Grand Villa Casino in the ICE District and at Starlight Casino inside West Edmonton Mall. Company officials are calling it the only partnership of its kind in Alberta right now, and given how the launch of the province’s iGaming market played out, that claim seems to hold up.
Alberta became just the second Canadian province to regulate online gambling, joining a market that already includes a fast-growing lineup of Canadian online casinos spread across the country.
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What the Partnership Covers
Details are still a bit thin on exactly what players will see, but the gist is this: BetRivers and Gateway are going to run joint promotions and events that link what happens at the two Edmonton venues to what happens online at ab.betrivers.ca. Some of that is already in motion, and more is coming as the year goes on.
Here’s where the partnership actually lives:
- Grand Villa Casino — Gateway’s flagship property in the ICE District
- Starlight Casino — tucked inside West Edmonton Mall
- ab.betrivers.ca — BetRivers’ online casino and sportsbook for Alberta players
Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz didn’t hold back on why the deal matters to his company. “Alberta is a market we’ve been preparing for, and our partnership with Gateway lets us welcome players in a way no one else can,” he said.
Gateway’s been a presence in Alberta for more than 20 years, and its CEO, Tolek Strukoff, talked about the deal as less of a pivot and more of a continuation of that history.
“Gateway has called Alberta home for more than two decades, with our Edmonton properties sitting at the centre of the city’s entertainment scene,” Strukoff said. “Now, through our partnership with BetRivers, that experience doesn’t stop at our doors. Whether in person or online, Albertans can enjoy three great places to play.”
Why Now
None of this is random timing. BetRivers went live on July 13, the day Alberta’s regulated market opened, alongside more than 20 other operators all scrambling for attention at once. The company hasn’t exactly been quiet since then, either it pulled off a marketing stunt at West Edmonton Mall involving a 16-foot gold slot machine that it claims set a Guinness World Record, letting mall-goers spin it for a shot at prizes.
Getting lost in a crowd of 20-plus operators on day one is a real risk, so tying itself to a brand that already owns two of Edmonton’s busiest casino floors is a smart way to cut through that noise. If you’re curious what else launched around the same time, there’s a full breakdown of Alberta online casinos currently operating in the province.
Worth noting: Gateway itself has no online casino product of its own. That’s actually part of what makes this work. Gateway gets to offer its regulars a digital option without having to build one, and BetRivers gets access to foot traffic it could never generate on its own. The company runs dozens of properties across British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta, but this is its first real step into linking any of them to an online platform.
What It Means for Players
Nobody’s published a promo calendar yet, so a lot of this is still wait-and-see. But based on how the companies are describing it, here’s roughly what to expect at Grand Villa and Starlight as things ramp up:
- Loyalty tie-ins between in-person play and a BetRivers account
- Live events, potentially featuring BetRivers’ ambassadors or existing marketing faces
- Promotions timed to coincide with visits to either casino
Deals like this could end up being a preview of where Alberta’s market goes from here. With 20-plus operators all fighting for the same players, a straightforward welcome bonus doesn’t go as far as it used to, so leaning on an established retail brand’s built-in foot traffic is one way to actually stand out. Whether any of Gateway’s competitors try something similar remains to be seen.
Alberta’s market is barely two months old, and operators are still setting up shop. NEXT.io tracks the full list of new online casinos in Canada as they get approved and go live.
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