SkyCity faces possible class action over losses through its online casino
Friday, 6 March 2026
Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group says it has received notice of a civil legal action initiated by a US entity seeking to test the lawfulness of its online casino.
SkyCity, whose shares trade on the New Zealand NZX sharemarket, told shareholders on Friday that the legal action was against SkyCity, SkyCity Auckland Holdings Limited and Silvereye Entertainment.
SkyCity has not named the organisation suing it. But it said the unnamed organisation was seeking permission to launch a class action to recover money lost by punters gambling online.
The Post understands the proposed class action would involve multiple online casinos targeting New Zealand gamblers, not just SkyCity.
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Silvereye Entertainment is based in Malta and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority, but is not owned by SkyCity, which described it as a “third party” in the Friday announcement on the law suit.
The Malta-based company operated the SkyCity online casino on behalf of an overseas subsidiary of SkyCity’s called SkyCity Online.
SkyCity Online was established in 2019. It has over 2400 online games that gamblers can stake their money on, and at the time of SkyCity’s last annual report, had 10 staff, and revenue in its last financial year of just $4.1 million.
Its 2025 annual report said the SkyCity Online Casino served New Zealand customers from the company’s “Malta operational base”
“While our current online operations are modest in scale, they provide important operational experience, customer data, and market insights that inform our strategic planning and preparation for market regulation,” the company said in its 2025 annual report.
But in February, SkyCity signalled a move that could be a prelude to ending its link-up with Silvereye.
Chief executive Jason Walbridge said SkyCity was advanced in its application to secure a Maltese online gaming licence.
Walbridge said applying for the Maltese licence was something of a “dress rehearsal” for the introduction in May in New Zealand of laws banning online gambling companies from targeting New Zealanders unless they have New Zealand licences to do so.
In its announcement to the NZX on Friday, SkyCity said: “The proceedings include an application for leave to bring the proceedings as a funded class action in respect of gambling monies lost to SkyCity Online between February 2020 and February 2026.”
However, it said: “SkyCity denies any such liability and will actively defend the proceedings.”
In 2019, a review of online gambling by the Department of Internal Affairs reported: “In New Zealand, Lotto New Zealand and TAB are the only domestic online gambling operators authorised to operate in New Zealand. However, it is not illegal for overseas operators to provide online gambling services to New Zealanders or for New Zealanders to use those services, provided they do not advertise in New Zealand.”
It was a huge issue with New Zealand gamblers having “spent” about $380m with offshore gambling providers and visited approximately 3000 gambling websites in the 18 months before the review was published in June 2020.
Unregulated online gambling was expected to grow, creating potential for a “significant increase” in harm to New Zealand gamblers, their families and communities. It also threatened government tax revenue by taking business from regulated casinos and gambling services.
That ultimately led to the law changes coming in in May.
It is the second class action SkyCity may face.
Australian legal funder LCM says on its website it is currently investigating shareholders’ rights to bring class action on behalf of SkyCity Adelaide against its former directors and its officers due to their failure to implement adequate anti-money laundering programs and systemic compliance systems at SkyCity’s Adelaide casino, which led to it being fined A$67m.
SkyCity has its own lawsuit going on, suing Fletcher Building for $330m in damages for losses sustained after lengthy delays to the opening of the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland.