Three months after signing a revenue-sharing deal with the provincial government, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) is expected to launch its online gaming site soon.
According to a spokesman for the nonprofit, its online gaming portal has issued an RFP for a vendor for its development. The vendor will be selected next year, with development to take about six months.
The Saskatchewan government and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN)—which represents 74 First Nations— agreed September 23 to amend the 1995 Gaming Framework Agreement (GFA) to allow SIGA to offer digital gaming. They agreed to a 50/50 revenue sharing program.
This made SIGA the only First Nations operator to ink such a deal. It is expected to operate the site with an established operator while the operation will be managed by SaskGaming for SIGA.
It will be regulated by Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA), a crown corporation.
SIGA director of communications and media relations Alanna Adamko, told Sports Handle, “Hopefully, this will inspire other First Nations and government revenue sharing agreements in the future.”
SIGA played a role in the development of the Canadian parliamentary bill that legalized sports betting. It plans to make sports betting a central part of its online gaming portal.
Currently, bettors in the province are legally limited to using the Sport Select program operated by the Western Canadian Lottery Corp. SIGA, which operates nine casinos is Saskatchewan, hopes to compete with sportsbooks at each of them.
Adamko told Sports Handle, “Sport Select has a niche in the province, and SIGA will look to complement offerings in the sports betting space to compete against the gray market betting, where these monies are leaving the province.”
