Since launching online casino gaming as well as poker services in the state of New Jersey, the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa has worked with bwin.party. Each operator of online gaming in the state has to consist of an online operator as well as land based venue located in Atlantic City. The partnership has done both companies well as the Party/Borgata relationship has resulted in top earnings in the state. However, this partnership may be in jeopardy as Borgata may be considering replacing bwin.party with GAN, the former GameAccount Network.
GAN first partnered with Borgata in December of last year, with an announcement made that the Borgata would be provided with a free-to-play Simulated Gaming product by GAN. The option is set to be live by the second quarter of 2016. GAN will provide a free ply option that will be linked to the rewards program of the casino which will help to provide service to customers located off-site and bring them back to the venue with attractive options.
With a new agreement now announced, GAN will be providing the casino with a real-money gaming option within the state of New Jersey. Certain conditions will have to be met before this deal can come to fruition. Borgata will have to deploy the GameSTACK iGaming platform of GAN on-site in the venue of Atlantic City as well as integrate the system with the loyalty program, My Borgata Rewards. All of this also has to be given regulatory approval and the Borgata has to give GAN the option to commence with the process.
All of the aspects of the new deal suggests that Borgata may be getting ready to drop their gaming partner, bwin.party. The company, bwin.party, was actually recently acquired by GVC Holdings earlier in February so it is uncertain if the partnership of Borgata and bwin.party would remain in place. The Borgata has been able to establish themselves as a top brand in the state of New Jersey when it comes to gaming as well as online casino gaming, since 2013 in particular, so the officials of the company seem to be working on making sure they can continue to offer gaming services online if the bwin.party partnership falls through.
Dermot Smurfit, the Chief Executive of GAN, commented on the new partnership with the Borgata Casino Hotel & Spa by stating:
Tom Balance is the Chief Operating Officer and President of the Borgata who stated that experience provided by GAN as well as capability of the company, combined it the Borgata brand power will ensure that the Simulated Gaming product will have a successful launch. Balance stated that the launch will add another business segment for the portfolio of Borgata and will help to further diversify the varied offerings of the Borgata.
It will be interesting to see if the new partnership between the Borgata and GAN will affect the bwin.party segment of the company. Will bwin.party drop the Borgata after being picked up by GVC Holdings? Or will Borgata have two partners now to work with when it comes to online casino and poker gaming in the state of New Jersey?
