Desert Gem

What is Desert Gem?

“We’re very encouraged with the trajectory of that, but we’re still not where we want to be. But a lot of the work, or some of the work has been done, and we have a lot more planned for the rest of the year. So bear with us. It is happening.”

Bengtsson said the split between casino and sports betting for SunBet was roughly 90% to 10% in favour of casino, with Sun International “under-indexing on sportsbook”.

But Sun International views that as an opportunity, with Bengtsson stating: “We think the market overall is probably somewhere around 35%-40% sportsbook.

About Desert Gem

A CEO of a prominent operator in the DRC last year told iGB the tax system largely operates on a declaration basis of how much operators report to the government.

“Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them,” they said. “In other words, we effectively pay what benefits us. All the while, the state has no means of monitoring its regulatory policies.”

In response to these issues, earlier this year the DRC Ministry of Finance outlined plans for a new gambling monitoring platform to enhance its supervision of the sector.

What is Desert Gem?

Growth was strongest online, where remote casino, betting, and bingo GGY climbed 6.9% to £8.3 billion ($11.1 billion), compared with a modest 1.1% increase across land-based sectors.

This digital expansion coincided with a continued shrinkage in physical retail. Great Britain had 8,081 licensed premises at the end of the period, down 2% year-on-year.

Several operators have announced shop closures over recent months, including Entain and Flutter, citing a rising tax burden.