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Five New Jersey properties applied for sports betting licenses yesterday. Two brick-and-mortar casinos requested brand new licenses, and three other properties applied for online wagering licenses.
The sports betting applications came after New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement Director David Rebuck indicated that July 16 was an important deadline. To wit, after July 16, Rebuck said that he could not guarantee approvals would come before the beginning of football season.
He also clarified that a late application would not disqualify a property from a mid-season approval. However, it would be likely that the DGE wouldn’t get to the application until after the season began, either.
So, which New Jersey properties do we know applied?
For his part, Rebuck declined to identify the companies who applied. He left it to the companies themselves to announce their identities.
So far, only two casinos have claimed responsibility for the applications. The biggest group of applications came from the Caesars properties.
First and foremost, Caesars applied for an in-person license for Borgata, which has offered sports betting since June 14.
Caesars also applied for a license for Bally’s Atlantic City, which would also serve the Caesars Palace property next door once it’s in place. Caesars also applied for permission to offer mobile wagering at all three of its properties.
The only other property we know about is Golden Nugget, which applied for in-person and mobile betting licenses. No other properties have confirmed that they applied.
The oncoming football season is driving the activity
Rebuck assured the Associated Press that the approval process should complete several applications by Aug. 1.
“I fully expect that by Aug. 1 we will see additional properties up and running,” he said. An Aug. 1 approval would give properties roughly one month to get operations in place before the NFL’s season begins.
The NFL season officially kicks off on Sep. 5. The first full Sunday of games will play on Sep. 7.
However, the revenue potential more than justifies the struggle for many properties. If the typical activity in Nevada is any clue, football wagering brings a river of money to sportsbooks.
In January 2018, Nevada sportsbooks reported revenues of $291 million – for just that month. For the Super Bowl, experts estimate that wagering may range north of $5 billion on the one game.
The first month (well, 17 days) of New Jersey sports betting collected $16.4 million in wagers. However, the resulting $300,000 of tax revenue fell well short of state projections.
So, both the state and the properties have vested interests in being ready for football season. Let’s hope that the DGE and two of the largest casino companies in the world can get it done in time.
