Supreme Ventures into sports betting

Published: Wednesday October 15, 2008

Supreme Ventures Limited's (SVL's) acquisition of 'Big A' Track (2003) Limited, which it announced last week, finally gives the gaming company a toehold on the last frontier in the gaming industry in Jamaica that it has yet to tap into - fixed odds and sports betting.

But Big A, the smallest player in a subsector that has 10 bookmakers registered with the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) earning annualised betting sales of $2.6 billion for 2008, perhaps simply provides SVL with the fixed odds betting licence that it needs rather than a unique opportunity to expand in a growing subsector.

Big A, with its 23 offices by August of this year, of which none offers overseas betting, stands to make 1.1 per cent of that or around $29 million by the year-end. What's more, the sector has seen betting sales across bookmakers grow by less than nine per cent each year on average over the last four years.

SVL chairman Paul Hoo said through a company statement to the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), however, that "based on its assessment and that of Intralot, a provider of "sports betting turnkey solutions and management services", with which SVL has partnered, the market potential is for the generation of an average US$82 million per annum in gaming sales, over the first 10 years of operations."

SVL signed a 10-year contract with Intralot, to undertake the complete operation of fixed odds betting in the local market, including the provision of the central system, the microLOT terminals, risk management and other supportive services.

"INTRALOT has plans to launch two games in the Jamaican market at an initial network of approximately 500 points of sale that is expected to reach 1,000," said the release.
Start-up of project activities is subject to regulatory approval by the BGLC.

In the meantime, the directors say they are "committed to growth and expansion of its core business, that is lottery gaming. The company will continue to build on its successful partnership with GTECH Corporation, with whom the company has a licence for lottery gaming through to the year 2016."

Intralot, which has a presence in 50 countries, with 4,500 employees and earned revenues of euro$835.5 million for 2007, has committed to acquire up to 10 per cent shareholding in SVL, which the companies jointly stated was an indication of Intralot's "commitment to play a significant role in the region and is a decisive step for Intralot's penetration into the Caribbean gaming market.


Source: Jamaica Observer
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20081014T210000-0500_141304_OBS_SUPREME_VENTURES_INTO_SPORTS_BETTING.asp