SkyCity’s online gaming website up and running

Friday 9th of August 2019

SkyCity Entertainment Group’s online gaming website is now up and running for New Zealand players.

The announcement follows an agreement that was signed between international iGaming company Gaming Innovation Group Inc (GiG) and Skycity on May 21, 2019, for the provision of its turnkey and fully managed online casino solution, including a gambling license.

SkyCity’s Chief Executive Graeme Stephens called it “an exciting day for SkyCity and one we have been working towards for some time alongside SkyCity Malta and our partners at GiG.”

The website is operated through its subsidiary SkyCity Malta Ltd it uses ‘skycitycasino’ under a .com URL.

There are already a number of illegal online sites available to New Zealanders who are estimated to invest about NZ$160 million (US$110 million) a year.

Mr. Stephens said SkyCity supported regulating the New Zealand online casino market, including introducing an appropriate licensing regime for operators and imposing taxes and mandatory host responsibility requirements, which offshore operators currently avoid.

The company has previously said that it would ‘self-regulate’ its host responsibility obligations and would voluntarily pay taxes as if the online operation was based in New Zealand.

In a statement to the NZX the company said: “GiG will provide SkyCity Malta with a full-suite online casino solution which includes a technical platform, gaming content, managed services and frontend development.”

It saw its new online operation as complementing “our land-based activities and offering customers a multi-channel gaming experience’’, as well as being an opportunity to diversify the company’s earnings.

The skycitycasino online gaming business will be managed by an Online Director (Steve Salmon) who is based in Europe.