The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority has released its annual report and financial results for the 2023–24 year.
The results were record-breaking, with the organization pulling in over $346.6 million in gross revenue and a net income of $138.8 million. Previous records were $303.6 million in gross revenue and $126 million in profit.
“If you went back to the early days, we were probably 30, 40, or 50 million dollars in revenue, so to see this past year of starting to approach 350 million in gross revenue and having exclusive rights to the province-wide online gaming platform is just fantastic; I think it really shows the original vision of our leaders,” explained SIGA president and CEO, Zane Hansen.
In November of 2019, SIGA launched what they call their “eighth casino,” which is the online gaming platform PlayNow.com. This past year was the first full year of PlayNow operations and saw over 30,000 new player registrations in the province. Hansen said he looks forward to continuing the site’s growth.
The casino that brought in the most revenue for the year was the Dakota Dunes Casino on Whitecap Dakota First Nation, but Hansen stated that is likely due to the market size, and all seven casinos had a great year.
SIGA redistributes its net revenue yearly, with 50 percent going to the First Nations Trust, which gets distributed to 74 First Nations in the province; 25 percent goes to Community Development Corporations; and the remaining 25 percent goes to the provincial General Revenue Fund. In addition, SIGA has set aside $1.89 million annually for its Community Investments Program, which sponsors community-level events, programming, and fundraising initiatives in Saskatchewan.
“I just really want to thank the team members across SIGA; they put in an incredible amount of work and really make us proud with what they do at all the casinos we have here in Saskatchewan, and we thank our customers for their ongoing support. We really appreciate it, never take it for granted, and always want to create a great experience for them,” said Hansen.
Within the annual report, SIGA also stated that there are plans for expanding the Dakota Dunes and Northern Nights casinos. Ground-breaking announcements for the expansions are expected to be released in late summer or early fall.