MGM Resorts International plans to launch its own online poker and casino portal in the New Jersey market in late 2017. MGM’s online gambling platform will be designed in partnership with GVC Holding PLC, which owns the Bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino, and Sportingbet gaming brands.
MGM Resorts is the owner of Borgata, the highest generating casino in Atlantic City. Borgata’s poker site was the leader in New Jersey’s online poker market until PokerStars surpassed their numbers after a March 2016 launch.
Borgata Online Casino Fell to No. 2
Borgata Online Casino was the leader in the New Jersey Internet casino market until the Golden Nugget Casino surpassed it in the fall of 2016. Golden Nugget’s online brand partners with SugarHouse Casino, which draws customers by offering top online slots from IGT, Bally Technologies, WMS Gaming, and Konami.
The decision to launch a separate MGM Resorts online casino and poker site appears to be an attempt to reverse those trends. The site is going to remain under the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa license, but might offer its own variety of developers that Borgata could not, due to previous licensing deals.
Record Revenues for New Jersey Online Gambling
The announcement comes at a time that New Jersey online gambling market is expanding rapidly. Powered by the competition from PokerStars and SugarHouse, New Jersey recorded its biggest ever month in March 2017, with $21.7 million for the month. That represents a whopping 40% increase over the March 2016 numbers.
At one time, New Jersey’s iGaming market disappointed gaming analysts, officials, and executives alike. Now, the predictions seem to underestimate the growth potential of the online gaming market. Each site now generates several million dollars a month, at a time when the Atlantic City casino industry needs an influx of cash.
Given the Borgata online gambling portal’s prominence, the fact MGM Resorts would invest additional resources in the market is a sign that it is a lucrative source of income.
First Time for an MGM Online Casino
Corey Sanders, COO of MGM Resorts, said that the new site would be under the MGM brand name for the first time. Mr. Sanders’ suggested that the MGM brand can draw more than the Borgata brand does, though Borgata is well known to residents of New Jersey.
Whether the MGM crest has that kind of drawing power is another matter, despite its popular casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, such as MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and Bellagio. Caesars Entertainment has similar name recognition due to its ownership of Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, but it has fallen to third spot in the New Jersey online casino and poker market.
New Jersey Online Casino Brands
However the pie is sliced, five online casino operators continue to operate in the New Jersey gaming market: MGM/Borgata/Party, Caesars Interactive/888, the Golden Nugget/Sugarhouse, Resorts Casino Hotel and Amaya/PokerStars, and the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which is managed by Mohegan Sun.
A sixth potential operator, TEN Casino, has an online casino site, but it is a freeplay site at the moment. Ten Casino is the new brand given to the ill-fated Revel Casino, which closed in September 2014 after two bankruptcies. Its owner, Glenn Straub, has been unable to secure a casino license or a liquor license after a nearly 2-year licensing process.
