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Government Earns $4.58 Billion from Gaming Industry

By: , July 8, 2014

The Key Point:

During the 2013/14 fiscal year, the intake from the Gaming Industry was $4.583 billion, an increase of 11 per cent over the previous fiscal year.

The Facts

  • The sum includes monies to the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund; Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC); Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) and to the Consolidated Fund.
  • The Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission has conservatively estimated that sports betting revenues have increased by over 400 per cent daily, since the start of the World Cup (in Brazil).

The Full Story

During the 2013/14 fiscal year, the intake from the Gaming Industry was $4.583 billion, an increase of 11 per cent over the previous fiscal year.

This was disclosed by Minister with responsibility for the Public Service in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Hon. Horace Dalley, during his contribution to the 2014/15 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, July 8.

He further informed that the sum included monies to the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund; Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC); Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) and to the Consolidated Fund.

“This is not the kind of revenue intake in the economy that any sensible administration can ignore. Thus, the required efforts are being deployed in order to guarantee the highest level of integrity, transparency and profitability within this industry,” he said.

“The Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission has conservatively estimated that sports betting revenues have increased by over 400 per cent daily, since the start of the World Cup (in Brazil). This is not the kind of industry that we can ignore. We intend to continue tapping into this industry,” he said.

Providing information on the recently held Gaming Industry Summit, he said the conference expanded on the initial horseracing summit, which was held last year, to include all the major stakeholders from the betting, gaming, lotteries, casino, financial and legal sectors.

He said coming out of that initial summit, the Government responded to the requests of the stakeholders and implemented several initiatives.

These included: the re-introduction of Sunday racing which was expanded to include the OTBs; the restructuring of the betting levy orders, which enabled the redistribution of revenue from the Consolidated Fund to breeders, Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) for purses and the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC); and telephone and text betting regulations were promulgated.

He noted that the goal of this year’s summit was to further refine the strategy for the entire gaming industry, in order to tap into the enormous economic potential available in this estimated $95 billion industry.

In the meantime, as it relates to the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), he said the Government has introduced certain amendments to improve the regulatory framework. This forms part of measures to ensure the integrity and probity of the games.

Last Updated: July 8, 2014

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