Boyd Gaming is poised to quadruple its iGaming market share in New Jersey with the acquisition of two new brands: Resorts Online Casino and Mohegan Sun NJ. It is acquiring the brands along with the assets of Resorts Digital from DGMB Casino, the company that owns the physical Resorts Atlantic City casino property.
According to a regulatory document issued by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE), Boyd and DGMB agreed to a deal on May 15, 2024. However, news of the deal was not publicized at the time.
Under New Jersey law, only the owners of retail casino properties can hold master licenses for online casino gaming. Other operators must sign a market access agreement with one of the master license holders. DGMB Casino held its master license through Resorts Digital. However, because the latter will no longer be its subsidiary, it must surrender the license to complete the deal.
However, play at Resorts Online and Mohegan Sun will continue without interruption. DGMB will receive a new master license, and Resorts Digital, as a Boyd subsidiary, will receive the appropriate license to continue its operations through a market access agreement with DGMB.
A media contact for Boyd Gaming told Bonus:
The acquisition of Resorts Digital Gaming is consistent with Boyd Gaming’s strategy of building a profitable regional iGaming business integrated with our existing nationwide portfolio.
As part of this transaction, Boyd Interactive has acquired the New Jersey operations of ResortsCasino.comand MoheganSunCasino.com, complementing our existing Stardust Online Casino in New Jersey. New Jersey has long been one of the nation’s leading iGaming states, and we look forward to further growing our presence in that state’s online gaming market in partnership with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.
Read More
Boyd’s Foray Into iGaming Began With Stardust
Boyd made its entry into the online casino space belatedly but appears committed to the strategy.
Initially, it did so in partnership with FanDuel, in which Boyd owns a 5% stake. Like other sports-centric operators, FanDuel was interested in trying a pure-play casino product, and Boyd provided its Stardust Casino brand for the purpose. The original Stardust Casino had been a Las Vegas landmark since 1958 but shut down in 2006.
At that time, Stardust Casino players shared their accounts with FanDuel Casino and Sportsbook. However, in 2022, Boyd acquired Pala Interactive and decided to forge its own path for the brand. The following year, it relaunched Stardust Casino as a standalone product in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
New Jersey began reporting revenue for individual online casino skins in January. Since then, Stardust’s share of that market has floated between 0.4% and 0.5%. There are more online casino brands in New Jersey than any other state, many of which have less than 1% of the market.
Mohegan Sun is in a similar position, with a market share of around 0.6%. However, Resorts Online is the biggest of the three at between 1.0% and 1.2%.
Boyd won’t be the only operator with multiple brands in the state. BetMGM, for instance, has four: its eponymous flagship plus Borgata Online, Wheel of Fortune, and Party Casino. However, Boyd will be unique in owning a secondary local brand with a greater market share than its national brand.
Assuming little change in traffic to the sites following the transaction, Boyd will have a little over 2% of the market, putting it on a similar footing in the state to Bally’s, Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers), or PENN (Hollywood).
Other Online Casino Agreements Remain With Resorts
Boyd’s long-term plans for Resorts Online Casino and Mohegan Sun remain to be seen. In the short term, however, very little will change for players. There’s a lot of regulatory nitty-gritty happening on the back end to keep all the licensing structures in compliance with state law, but that should happen seamlessly.
The loss of direct iGaming revenue from the two skins may not bother DGMB Casino much. As the holder of the master license, it will retain the market access agreements with other skins using the license, including DraftKings Casino and PokerStars.
The exact terms of those agreements aren’t public knowledge. However, they involve some share of those brands’ revenue going to DGMB in return for operating under its master license. DraftKings, on its own, accounts for roughly 21% of the total market. So, even a small share of its revenue may rival what DGMB was earning as an operator, and without any of the overhead that comes with running an online casino.
About the Author
