Stingy Sky City short-changes Waikato community
 

Far from its claim that it is ‘giving back to the community’ Hamilton’s Sky City casino is significantly short-changing needy community organizations in the Waikato, according to gambling issues group, GamblingWatch

GamblingWatch co-ordinator Dave Macpherson described the $10,000 that the casino plans to dole out to Quiz game punters’ favourite charities as “a stingy, pathetic drop in the bucket”.

“Sky City is earning at the rate of $17.6 million per year currently.”

“It has 339 pokie machines and only gives out about $200,000 per year in community grants to voluntary organizations, with a miserly $10,000 now added to that.”

“That represents about $619* per pokie machine being given back to the Waikato community, or a miniscule 0.12% of their total earnings,” he said.

“I wouldn’t normally extol the ‘virtues’ of the pokie bars around Hamilton city, but the 558 pokie machines currently in the city returned at least $9.7** million to the community in the last financial year, from earnings of just over $26 million.”

“This means that pokies in bars & clubs in this area are each returning $17,334 annuallyto the community, as opposed to each Sky City pokie giving a maximum of $619.”

“A non-casino pokie in this area returns about 30 times more community support than an identical machine in the casino.”

“One single 18-machine pokie bar in Hamilton will return more to the community than the entire 339 pokie machines and all the gaming tables put together in Sky City casino.”

“There is no comparison, and Sky City management should hang their heads in shame at the con they are trying to pull on their community.”

“They’re not in it to help the community, they aren’t helping the community, and they should stop pretending that they are doing so!”

*Sky City NZ figures show most earnings in casinos come through their pokie machines

**Non-casino pokie owners are required to return at least 37.12% of their earnings to community organisations

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