Jamaica gaming enterprise brings multi-million $$ gambling investment to Guyana
Supreme Ventures Limited of Jamaica, one of the region’s best known betting, gaming, and lottery operations has launched a multi-million dollar gaming operation in Guyana.
The company, which has established headquarters in the well-known Satro building opposite Demico House in downtown Georgetown has already established its bona fides with the Guyana Gaming Authority and the Guyana Revenue Authority and was due to commence its operations this week.
SVL is now licensed here to offer sport-themed gaming, and will operate its first iBet shop under two subsidiaries - Supreme Ventures Guyana Holdings Inc and Supreme Ventures Enterprise Inc.
Stabroek Business understands the additional shops are to be rolled out in various parts of Guyana next year as part of the planned SVL retail network which it seeks to create here. A report in the Jamaica Gleaner says that SVL’s investment ambitions in Guyana includes generating business for its recently acquired horse racing operation, Caymanas Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
SVL has reportedly already made a multi-million dollar investment in its Guyana operation that includes the acquisition of the Satro Building which the Gleaner says will house “a state-of-the-art gaming lounge space,” The operation will house a betting lounge on the first floor which, according to the Gleaner, will host horse racing patrons as well as a bar. “The second floor will be outfitted with next-generation gaming machines while the third floor of the three-storied structure will house the company’s offices. Guyana is SVL’s first operational investment outside of Jamaica and the Gleaner quotes the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ann-Dawn Young Sang as saying that the company is now “perfectly positioned” to expand beyond its home base. The choice of Guyana as a destination for the investment the Gleaner said had to do with “the status of the Caribbean gaming market and economic developments in the region, particularly Guyana, where large reserves of oil have been discovered.” Young Sang is quoted in the Gleaner as saying that SVL “looked closely at underserved or underdeveloped gaming markets across the region, and identified those that would provide significant growth opportunities.” She said that “a careful analysis of the English-speaking Caribbean
showed that Guyana was an excellent prospect, based on their economic indicators such as GDP growth and the imminent start of oil production in the country, which will drive significant economic activity.”
Stabroek Business understands that SVL will be offering its Guyanese clientele bets on horse racing from Jamaica’s famous Caymanas Park which the company acquired in March last year. Through SVL, local horse racing fans will also be served with racing from the various famous race tracks in the United States while racing from the United Kingdom will be added next year. SVL’s recent broadcast agreement with Sports Max will “elevate” the broadcast quality of the televised races at Caymanas Park to international standards.
SVL’s rollout will also include pool betting, which the Gleaner quotes Young Sang as saying provides better payout options for punters who are currently serviced by traditional bookmakers offering fixed odds, a facility which she says “opens up the market to a much larger pool of betting on races in Jamaica and the US - the bigger the pool the bigger the payout on winnings”.
The launch of SVL’s gaming services in Guyana is expected to swell the size of the gambling industry which, up until now, remains limited to a handful of betting shops and casinos.
The 23-year-old SVL is the Caribbean’s first provider of a mega-millions multi-jurisdictional lottery game, called Super Lotto, which is available in eight countries. It is the dominant gaming operation in Jamaica with annual revenues of J$56 billion, the Gleaner article says.
Chairman of the Guyana Gaming Authority Roysdale Forde confirmed earlier this week that SVL has satisfied the requirements necessary to operate its gaming enterprise in Guyana including those required by both the Authority and the Guyana Revenue Authority.