The CEO of the province’s first online casino does not see the venture as a total failure even though he has been forced to shut down after two years of operation.
Bernard Shepherd ran the Northern Bear online casino out of an office on the White Bear First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan.
He says marketing the venture was his biggest challenge and he just couldn’t gain a foothold in the market and the project is done for now.
“I am not sure if I am totally done with I-gaming but I know for the moment I am,” he says.
Shepherd partnered with a company called GEObet to set up the operation in November of 2012.
The venture operated outside the jurisdiction of the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority and was monitored closely by the government although no efforts were made to shut it down.
Shepherd says establishing himself in a market of thousands of online casinos proved to be very difficult.
“Marketing costs are high because basically you are in a market where you have to compete against other online casinos for different markets and right now there are about 3,000 plus online casinos out there.”
GEObet CEO Gerry Gionet praises Shepherd for his efforts.
In a statement to MBC news, Gionet says Shepherd was unable to gain local support and build on the opportunity that Northern Bear casino provided him.
He went on to say he hopes other tribal entrepreneurs will see the opportunities and benefits to First Nations that online gaming can provide.
Shepherd is seen as a ground breaker in First Nations gaming, setting up the province’s first Aboriginal run casino on the White Bear First Nation in 1993.
This casino was eventually raided by the RCMP and shut down.
However, this then led to a new gaming agreement in the province that saw the establishment of First Nations run casinos.