Best Of Times; Worst Of Times
New Jersey's gambling revenue numbers make a powerful case for other states to legalize online casinos. But the numbers also help make the case against legalization.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: New Jersey online gambling is booming, which is good for NJ but could prove troublesome for legalization efforts elsewhere.
LOOSE ENDS: Gannett and BetMGM ink media deal; Interstate online poker coming to PA?
NEWS: Online poker is getting a lot of attention, but there is a reason operators aren’t pushing poker-only bills.
VIEWS: AI discussion kicks off the iDEA Power Lunch Summit.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Food for thought on sports betting VIP practices and product offerings.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Two newsletter achievements unlocked.
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Online Continues to Outpace Land-Based in New Jersey
New Jersey gambling is being pulled in opposite directions. Online gambling is ascendant, and land-based gambling is on the decline, with a not-so-rosy outlook on the horizon.
I’ve been covering this trend quite a bit, and August was another month that fits right into the cannibalization narrative I highlighted in last week’s feature column with the following two charts:
So, what did the August figures from New Jersey say?
“Figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that internet gambling brought in $198.4 million,” the AP reported. “The highest monthly total ever recorded in the state and an increase of nearly 28% from a year earlier.”
Even though land-based casino revenue was up nearly 5% year-over-year in August (there was an extra weekend in 2024), the AP focused on pre-pandemic levels, noting, “Six of the nine casinos won less from people physically in their premises than they did in August 2019, before the pandemic broke out.”
More worrisome than the snowballing narrative is what is on the horizon.
New York’s downstate casinos are still years away, but as Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University, told the Press of Atlantic City that not only are the economic conditions that led to five casino closures from 2014-2016 still present, "The looming promise of downstate New York casinos and the existential threat of North Jersey casinos are an echo of this.”
Loose Ends: Gannett and BetMGM; Interstate Online Poker in PA?
Gannett and BetMGM ink deal: BetMGM and Gannett have signed a multi-year strategic partnership to make BetMGM the preferred online sportsbook and casino partner for USA TODAY Sports (providing sports betting odds and betting information). Per the press release, “The agreement incorporates BetMGM sports betting odds into stories and content sharing betting odds, moneylines, spreads and over/unders for games as well as a BetMGM “Bet Now” feature.” Content looks to be provided by Gambling.com Group, who will Gambling.com Group who will provide “expert insights leveraging their proprietary advertising technology in states where online gambling is regulated.”
Skill games could bring about Interstate online poker in Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Rep. George Dunbar is hopeful he can attach his interstate online poker bill to a skill game bill that Gov. Josh Shapiro has been discussing with lawmakers. “That is certainly an avenue we would pursue,” Dunbar told pokerfuse in an exclusive interview Friday. “There’s no reason why [my MSIGA bill] can’t just get attached to it.” Pennsylvania has been reluctant to enter into interstate poker agreements. Of course, skill games are a contentious issue in PA, and the passage of a skill games bill is far from a certainty.
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Speaking of Online Poker…
With online casino legislation proving to be a tough nut to crack and so few online sports betting candidates left, there is a lot of chatter about online poker.
Pennsylvania’s efforts to join the Multi-State Internet Poker Association (MSIGA) is just one thread.
There was a late push in New York for an online poker-only bill by State Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr.
DraftKings has launched a new peer-to-peer poker game, Electric Poker, within its online casino in Michigan and, soon, Connecticut.
Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers Poker is in a soft-launch phase in Pennsylvania.
GG Poker has acquired the World Series of Poker brand, which is expected to bring GG Poker’s tech into the legal US market.
PokerStars relaunched the North American Poker Tour last year and landed Rob Gronkowski for the next season of the PokerStars Big Game poker show.
However, as Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (a newsletter sponsor) said in a recent EKG Line newsletter, “The negative [online casino] legislative environment likely carries over to poker.”
Further, there is likely some trepidation about going (forgive the phrase) all-in on online poker.
Operators tend to look at poker as an acquisition tool, but without products to cross-sell (online casino), “Poker can have a negative effect on player values,” per EKG. “As one example, if a player loses $100 in DraftKings casino, DraftKings gets $100. If he loses $100 on Electric Poker, DraftKings gets $7 and other players get $93. If those players then withdraw, it can be problematic for the ecosystem.”
iDEA Webinar Recap: AI Can Wear Many Hats
Yesterday, the first of three iDEA Growth-GeoComply Power Lunch Summit webinars (sponsored by a newsletter) was held. The topic was AI and its use in the gambling industry.
One piece of news from the Webinar was Sportradar and GeoComply's development of AI tools to help operators identify problem gambling behaviors — GeoComply and Betr recently unveiled device-blocking technology to enhance self-exclusion.
AI’s usefulness on the RG front was a theme throughout. Anthony D’Angelo, the head of responsible gambling at Fanatics, believes AI helps remove bias from spotting problematic play.
On a separate note, D’Angelo also said AI allows for an easier barrier to entry into the gambling industry. “A lot of Fanatics employees come from within the industry, but more and more are coming from outside the industry.”
According to D’Angelo, proficiency in AI is something Fanatics looks for on a resume — something anyone trying to break into the industry should consider, as AI is useful in just about every department, from RG to risk management to marketing.
For example, Nicholas Imperillo, the senior manager of risk services at GeoComply, cautioned that bad actors are using AI to create fake documentation to circumvent the controls operators have in place for KYC. GeoComply. As such, operators need to be using AI to counteract the bad actors and spot fakes at scale.
D’Angelo said AI can review images during registration, looking for tell-tale signs of it being AI-generated or fake.
And what would an AI conversation be without some apocalyptic talk? No one brought up the possibility of computers supplanting humans, but there was a question about privacy concerns and the use of AI in targeting customers.
Imperillo said the company emphasizes privacy but could better explain it to the public. “Using anonymized/hashed data shows that we are taking time to use the tool properly, and we, the industry, need to be more transparent about that.”
The SAFE Bet Act was also a hot topic during the Q&A, as one of the focuses of the federal bill is AI.
iDEA Growth’s Amy Knapp, who moderated the panel, summarized one question: “What problem are these lawmakers trying to address?”
The consensus was that the SAFE Bet Act is a misguided effort. It’s too prescriptive and takes power out of the hands of state regulators.
Charmaine Hogan, the head of regulatory affairs at Playtech, said the bill “comes from the right place” and that “there is always more that can be done.” But (there’s always a but), she noted legal iGaming states are already doing most of these things, and in a more robust way. “Every proposed bill has a section about consumer protections,” Hogan said.
Imperillo added that it undercuts the many people working in the regulated space on these topics.
Today’s Power Lunch Summit Webinar looks at the next wave of legislation and regulatory frameworks. You can register at the link below.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
Food for thought on two different topics from Dillon Borgida at Underdog (a newsletter sponsor):
Stray Thoughts
The newsletter’s numbers keep improving. I can’t thank you all enough, as my end-of-year goal was 2,500 subscribers and 65,000 monthly views — I guess it’s time to revise my targets!
