The idea was simple for online gambling in New Jersey, legalize online gambling and boost the dwindling casino industry of the state. That idea has been a successful one so far as casino revenues have been growing approximately 30% a year. Even though experts estimate the market gap to close as more competitors enter the field, the depth of the industry grows and the revenue increases regardless. All good things for the state of New Jersey.
While the brick-and-mortar casinos are still in the midst of making a comeback in the Garden State, the Atlantic City online gambling industry is now starting to take off. New Jersey has allowed legal online gambling since 2013 but it hasn’t been until recently that the long-time gambling powerhouse, MGM, has jumped into the mix. The playMGM website is the first internet gambling website to be attached to the brand and will offer players from New Jersey real-money bingo, slots, and various table and casino games all over the internet. The newly branded playMGM website is reported to have acquired the same Borgata gaming licensing that the MGM casino holds. It will also use the same gambling software and all the familiar themes that customers have come to expect from the Borgata online gambling services. playMGM joins an expanded range of online casino options available to NJ players that include domestic online casinos as well as legally sanctioned offshore online casinos that accept NJ players.
What is humorous about the idea of casinos benefitting from online gambling is that they were against it at first. The brick-and-mortar casinos in New Jersey had the fear that online gambling would edge in on their revenues. The truth is, it might have had the law not been written to make sure that all casino game servers had to be specifically located in licensed gambling venues that are located in Atlantic City. This opened up another stream of revenue instead of cutting into them for the casinos. The laws have since been a bit relaxed but not to any detriment of the industry.
With new brands like playMGM starting to join the mix it will begin to add incentives to outside markets to want to join the relatively limited scope of New Jersey online gambling. David Rebuck, the Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, has recently been making attempts at sharing that customer market. His target is other states like Nevada and Pennsylvania should they legalize as expected, and as far as the UK as well. The UK has since halted talks based on the New Jersey law that mandates online casino website server must be physically located in Atlantic City, but with brands like MGM jumping into the mix anything could happen.