Is There A Speed Bump Ahead For Booming Online Casinos In NJ?
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William Pascrell III is a New Jersey-based lobbyist. He is giving Seton Hall Law School students a three-day boot camp on the history of American gambling. Pascal points out that the 2013 New York law that legalized online casino gaming has an expiration date. Online casino operators are on track to exceed $1 billion in revenue in the state in 2021.
Online casinos in New Jersey are talking about getting out of their current partnerships with Atlantic City casinos. There is no constitutionally required provision for the online/brick-and-mortar pairings in the state. Pascrell believes the law will be reauthorized next year, but there will probably be changes. Rebuck points out that the frenzied state of U.S. gambling industry mergers and acquisitions might ease the tensions between traditional casino companies and newer online upstarts.
DGE mixes in casino industry's revenue of $1.6 billion with the $866 million earned by the online casino operators. Online casinos proved to be a lifeline for Atlantic City casinos in the spring of 2020 after they were forced to shut their doors due to the COVID-19 outbreak for nearly four months. The shuttering of four Atlantic County casinos devastated the economy. The original online gambling bill was designed to boost the fortunes of those sites that had fallen on hard times after the opening of casinos.
Rebuck is proud of New Jersey's reputation as the gold standard in the U.S. gaming community. He believes the state's sports betting revenue could reach $10 billion by year's end. Rebuck's crystal ball is cloudy in predicting gambling trends. He is also skeptical about the revenue generated by online casinos. The state Treasury estimated in 2013 that online casino companies would generate $1 billion annually in revenue in first year.
