SKYCITY Entertainment Group Had A Rocky 2019
2019 has not been a good year for SKYCITY Entertainment Group. The New Zealand based casino missed two planned launches of two of its major casinos. The IR SKYCITY Auckland was up for upgrades which set the company back by NZ$700 million. On the other hand, the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) was expected to open in 2019. NZICC will launch in late 2020. In late October 2019, even more devastating news came. A fire broke out at the NZICC rooftop of the casino. This cause even further delays for the launch.
SkyCity Entertainment Group has revealed that due to the fire, planned conferences expected to be hosted in 2021 will be delayed. The New Zealand International Convention Centre Convention was meant to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in 2021 according to New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
It hasn’t always been gloom and doom for the SKYCITY Entertainment Group. In Australia, the company has seen a far smoother year than in NZ. The SKYCITY Adelaide AU$330 million upgrades seems to be coming along pretty well. The casino will be ready for operation in 2021.
No. 33 on 2019 Asian Gaming Power 50
Running for 11 years now, the Asian Gaming Power 50 celebrates industry leaders making an impact in the gambling and casino world. Taking the 33 spot is Graeme Stephens, a former boss of South Africa’s biggest casino operator. Stephens is the current CEO of the SkyCity Entertainment Group. The CEO took over from his predecessor Nigel Morrison in 2017. In the 2019 Asian Gaming Power 50, Stephens’ power score is 859, which is a slight increase from 2018’s 838.
New Zealand-facing online casino
SkyCity Entertainment Group launched an online casino in August 2019. SkyCityCasino.com is a Malta-based, New Zealand-facing casino. The site is powered by MT SecureTrade, an offshoot of Gaming Innovation Group (GIG). The online casino has a variety of features such as slot games, RNG casino games as well as live gaming. At the moment, the casino is available to Kiwi gamblers who are over the age of 20 years old. Gamblers need to produce a valid passport or driver’s license. Kiwi punters will notice that although the land-based casino and online casino are from the same family. This means that if gamblers have balances in a land-based casino account, they will not reflect or be transferrable to on the online casino.