Bwin.party signs with Pennsylvania casino
Pennsylvania lawmakers took the online gaming discussion to an open forum last week, with a public hearings of the state House Gaming Oversight Committee held at Harrah’s Philadelphia casino in Chester and SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia.
The stated intention of the hearings was to gather input on the best ways to keep Pennsylvania’s casinos competitive amid growing competition. “It’s hard to do when you’re inside the white marble walls of Harrisburg,” said Rep. John Payne, the Republican from Hershey who chairs the committee. “It’s not 2004 (when gambling became legal in Pennsylvania). Things have changed, and if we don’t stay progressive, it won’t be those casinos in Atlantic City closing, it’s going to be the casinos here.”
One prominent issue on which lawmakers were seeking public input was online gaming, which is the subject of a bill introduced in the House in February by Payne himself, which is currently before the committee. Caesars Entertainment Executive Vice President Jan Jones Blackhurst testified on the benefits of regulating and taxing online gaming, which she said already takes place in the state, regardless of its legality.
“Today’s reality is that internet gambling is taking place in all 50 states, almost all of it illegally,” said Blackhurst, according to the Delaware County Daily Times. “It’s an environment that’s ripe for fraud and criminal activity, and it provides no tax revenue. The online gambling experience in the states has been successful in the jurisdictions where it has been tried. One of the simple things we need to realize is that internet gaming is here to stay, whether it is illegal or regulated.”
Blackhurst pointed to New Jersey, where iGaming has been legal for 18 months, as evidence that online gaming creates new customers for casinos. She cited one study showing 80 percent of online gamblers were new to gambling, and another 15 percent were inactive gamblers who started playing again after iGaming was legalized.
“Online gaming is likely to increase, not cannibalize, existing gaming revenues,” Blackhurst said. “It offers the states a new source of revenue and captures revenue that is otherwise going offshore.”
The Daily Times cites another study by H2 Gaming Capital as corroborating a state-commissioned study showing online gambling could return as much as $300 million in annual revenue, with about $43 million going to Pennsylvania.
In an interview with OnlinePokerReport.com, Payne said iGaming is one of many new programs that could boost gaming revenue for the state, and lessen the need to impose new taxes. “I’d rather have internet gambling, fantasy sports betting, fix the small games of chance bill, than vote to raise income or sales taxes,” he said.
“My job is to introduce legislation in the Gaming Committee that we can present to our leadership team in May and say, ‘If we’re serious about this, and we do internet gaming it would generate this much revenue; fantasy sports, this much; fix the small games bill, it would do this much; something in private clubs it would do this much.’”
He also said that Governor Tom Wolf is “open-minded” to expanded gaming possibilities, although the governor opposed any expansion, land-based or online, during his gubernatorial campaign. And, Payne added, his bill does not expand gaming, since people are already betting online. “I’m not trying to expand it; I’m trying to make it legal, and I’m trying to make sure we make sure people aren’t ripped off,” he said.
One major online gaming operator is not waiting for the legislative process to seize Pennsylvania’s iGaming opportunity. U.K. online gaming giant Bwin.party confirmed with eGaming Review that it has signed an online gaming partnership deal with an unnamed Pennsylvania casino, pending legalization in the state.
Bwin.party CEO Norbert Teufelberger told the website that the company had “identified a market access partner” and hoped to be “first to market” if Pennsylvania lawmakers give iGaming their blessing.
Payne’s bill, which contemplates a complete slate of online casino games, is one of two iGaming bills in the Pennsylvania legislature. A bill sponsored by Rep. Nick Miccarelli would legalize internet poker only.
