Inside Asian Gaming

July 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 21 Asian Gaming 50 29 Subhash Chandra Chairman, Essel Group Subhash Chandra, a former rice trader-turned-mass media entrepreneur, founded Playwin, India’s first online gaming business. Mr Chandra is himself a natural gambler, having recently launched the Indian Cricket League, a Kerry Packer-style limited-overs competition, played at night under floodlights and attracting some of the world’s best players thanks to hefty pay cheques. Mr Chandra was ranked at 407 on the Forbes World’s Billionaires List in 2007 with a net worth estimated at US$2.3 billion. Mr Chandra’s Playwin lottery brand offers a range of online lottery games delivered to customers via terminals at retail outlets or via their home computer.Since the service was launched in 2002, revenues have increased year-on-year from US$145 million to an estimated US$510 million in 2007-08. without any national regulator breathing down his neck because lotteries in India are licensed on a state-by-state basis. In return for their permit, operators give some of their revenues to charity (in Playwin’s case via the Playwin Foundation) but have no tax liability on gross sales. A number of states have attempted to impose sales tax on lottery sales, but the Indian Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that lottery tickets were not‘goods’and therefore were exempt. This sales tax break may soon end as India is considering setting up a national regulator similar to the body that oversees the country’s stock exchange. Playwin is part of an empire held by Mr Chandra’s Essel Group, which has interests in media, packaging, and real estate. Playwin is now reportedly the group’s biggest earner. The great consumer appeal of the games, including Thunderball and Fast Lotto, is that as products in a fully automated system they are free from the kind of fraud traditionally associatedwith paper lotteries in India.Some analysts believe this is just the beginning of the Playwin success story, given the rapid growth of India’s middle class. Unlike other gaming operators, Mr Chandra is in the unique position of being able to promote his lottery business on his own television channels. Essel Group operates (through a subsidiary) Play TV, India’s first interactive gaming channel. Mr Chandra also founded and still runs Zee TV, the world’s first Hindi language satellite channel, which now has an estimated audience of 500 million and broadcasts to the Indian diaspora in 120 countries. Mr Chandra is able to cross promote 30 Albee Benitez President, Leisure and Resorts World Corp President, First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corp First Cagayan Inc, which was appointed as the exclusive master licensor for online gaming in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port. The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) is mandated to manage the resources of the Zone and has signed a joint venture partnership with First Cagayan until 2031. Mr Benitez’s Leisure and Resorts flagship now owns 70% of First Cagayan. CEZA has become one of the world’s leading online gaming regulatory jurisdictions and the only such jurisdiction in Asia. First Cagayan’s partnership with CEZA was instrumental in attracting over 40 online gaming groups to set up their operations in the Philippines and the company also helps CEZA promote and regulate a stable regime for Asian online gaming operators. Mr Benitez plans to offer players further gaming options via his popular bingo outlets. He is also eyeing international This US-educated Filipino entrepreneur has steadily built a diversified gaming business in the Philippines through his Philippines-listed flagship company, Leisure and Resorts World Corp (LRWC). Mr Benitez heads the Philippines’s largest chain of bingo halls with 36 sites—all licensed and regulated by PAGCOR—located in the country’s major shopping malls. The halls offer traditional bingo, electronic bingo, instant bingo pull-tabs and “Rapid Bingo”—a keno-type game. Mr Benitez proved tobe forward thinking when five years ago he separately started expansion through joint ventures for other types of gaming. Advertise with Inside Asian Gaming For advertising enquiries, please email: ads@asgam.com or call Matt at: +852 95797383