MGM Resorts International has announced a strengthening of its partnership with software provider GVC Holdings PLC in the form of a new real-money online-gambling site in New Jersey. According to a press statement released today by MGM Resorts, the new site, to be branded as “PlayMGM,” will make its real-money debut later this year.
Partnering with GVC Holdings makes sense for MGM Resorts, which already owns and operates the largest casino in Atlantic City, the Borgata Hoetl Casino & Spa. MGM Resorts first began working with GVC back in 2015 through GVC’s acquisition of struggling bwin.party. As part of that deal, GVC also acquired a working operational partnership with the Borgata and its corporate parent, MGM Resorts, to continue operating several of New Jersey’s existing online gambling sites licensed through the Borgata.
“We are delighted to extend our relationship with MGM Resorts and to be launching casino and poker under the playMGM brand in New Jersey,” said GVC’s Chief Operating Officer Shay Segev. “MGM Resorts is quite simply one of the biggest and best names in the business, and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
“This is a historic moment for MGM Resorts to be launching real money online casino and poker under the MGM brand for the first time,” said Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer of MGM Resorts. “GVC has been a first-rate partner for us, and we are excited about the possibilities of extending that partnership as regulated markets open up in the U.S.”
MGM Resorts hasn’t provided a hard date for the PlayMGM site’s New Jersey launch, except for noting it i scheduled to occur before the end of 2017. Each new site in New Jersey must be vetted by New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). The DGE has often mandated that new sites go through a “soft opening,” usually spanning less than a week, before being approved for around-the-clock play. However, as existing New Jersey licensees already involved with multiple, fully operating sites, both MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings likely will face a minimal amount of procedural hurdles on the way to full approval.
MGM Resorts’ plan to attach its “MGM” moniker to a real-money site is already being seen by some industry pundits as a move with importance beyond New Jersey’s borders, and one that portends well for the guture of online-gambling legalization elsewhere in the US. Though most of MGM Resorts International’s premier casino properties are located in Las Vegas — largely on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip — the company has not pursued an online-poker license in Nevada to date.
MGM Resorts’ decision not to trailblaze the online-poker market in Nevada, as rival Caesars Entertainment has done, seems justified by New Jersey’s financial results for online gambling. In New Jersey, revenue from online casino games far outweighs the revenue generated from online poker. Since Nevada law currently allows only online poker, MGM’s decision to wait and see in the Nevada market is fully justified after the fact.
The new PlayMGM site in New Jersey promises to bring plenty of online-gambling bells and whistles to market. GVC has already acknowledged its plans to provide the latest version of its proprietary software platform to market behind the site. That platform also includes titles from several third-party developers such as NYX Gaming, with whom GVC already enjoys a business relationship.
The new PlayMGM site, whenever it goes live, will offer “desktop and mobile variants, over 300 casino games (including progressive jackpot slots) and multiple variants of tournament and cash play poker.” MGM Resorts has also verified that the new site will be full integrated within the company’s loyalty rewards system, meaning additional benefis for existing MGM Resorts customers who also try their luck at online play.
