The period for gaming entities located outside of Pennsylvania to state their case for one of 11 Pennsylvania online casino interactive gaming licenses has passed.
MGM Resorts was the first to apply.
And New Jersey-based Golden Nugget snuck in under the wire as well.
Good deal, Golden Nugget
Earlier this week, news broke that Golden Nugget, already the biggest online gaming entity in New Jersey, had applied for a PA online gaming license.
There are 11 licenses total up for grabs, each costing a cool $4 million. There are three categories, each tied to specifics over which games will appear on players’ screens.
The deadline to apply was Wednesday. Shortly before it passed, Golden Nugget submitted its application as a qualified gaming entity (QGE) to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).
MGM applied for online slots, table games, and poker.
Golden Nugget’s application shows only slots and table game licenses.
Considering Golden Nugget already accounts for one-third of NJ’s online gaming revenue, through deals with entities like Betfair and PlaySugarHouse NJ, it’s not like they’ll be missing out on any potential avenues for action.
The Nugget knows NJ
Online gaming has gone bonkers in recent years.
Perhaps no one single entity has enjoyed the fruits of that fact more than Golden Nugget.
Thanks to a nifty gaming platform from the folks at NYX and a massive library of games across a vast array of providers, the Nugget accounted for $9.3 million of the $24.1 million in online gaming revenue in New Jersey last month.
As noted above, both Betfair and PlaySugarHouse NJ operate under the Golden Nugget umbrella. That relationship with SugarHouse means Golden Nugget could have tried to come into PA as a skin on SugarHouse’s online gambling license.
However, skins come with certain stipulations which Golden Nugget was obviously hoping to avoid.
Adding an online gaming presence in PA further serves to solidify Golden Nugget’s position as the leader in NJ online gaming and possibly the whole East Coast.
There will be leftover interactive licenses
If approved, together, Golden Nugget and MGM will use five of the licenses made available by the PGCB. Factoring in Stadium Casino’s decision to forego an online gaming license, that leaves:
- Five online poker licenses
- Three online slots licenses
- Three online table games licenses
The window to apply as an outside entity closed on Oct. 31. It is unclear what the state is going to do about the remaining interactive licenses.
As for Golden Nugget and MGM, the next step is an easy one; wait. The PGCB must vet the license applications they submitted. Then they will decide whether the petitions are valid.
Considering they’d add an expected $20 million in licensing fees alone. and it’s not hard to see how likely it is that they will.
Still, don’t expect to hear anything one way or the other until PGCB’s next meeting on Nov. 28.