Manitoba Plans to Explore Online Gaming Market
The Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation announced its plans to increase profits to recover from the rough 2020-2021 fiscal year.
Like several other businesses, the sudden March 2020 pandemic took a toll on the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation. During that period, the Crown agency had to shut down gaming locations all over the province, which impacted its financial state.
This Tuesday, on a legislative committee hearing, the Crown corporation presented its financial report for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. CEO and president Manny Atwal shared that the company is steadily recovering financially. The corporation anticipates additional improvement during this fiscal year since casinos have been operating for a bigger portion of it.
During the 2020-21 fiscal year, the Crown agency succeeded in generating a net income of $425 million. As for the ongoing year, the company expects to reach $570 million, marking a significant increase since last year. However, the amount is still lower than the $606 million recorded in 2019-2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
As previously announced, the Crown agency is currently contemplating expanding to online gambling. According to calculations, the corporation expects revenue from $50 to $60 million from online gambling via its platform PlayNow.com. Nevertheless, Atwal says that the platform competes with illegal and grey-market sites.
Finally, Atwal believes that PlayNow has a chance of taking over the local iGaming market through better marketing and stronger brand awareness.
Read more: Best Canadian Online Casinos
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