Betfair NJ A Casualty Of Trump Plaza Closure?

When New Jersey’s launched its first online gambling site in November 2013, it was hoped igaming would give a much needed boost to the state’s gambling revenues and herald in a new era of prosperity for the state’s ailing industry. Seven months later, and not only have revenues failed to live up to forecasts, but this year alone NJ is expected to lose four of its original twelve casinos.
Nevertheless, The Trump Plaza’s imminent closure is different from that of the other beleaguered venues in that the casino already had an igaming partnership agreement in place with the world’s biggest betting exchange, Betfair. With not even online gambling casinos safe, analyst now believe a major correction in the state’s gambling market will need to take place before supply more realistically matches demand.
In the meantime one such analyst, Steve Ruddock, was keen to dispel the notion igaming may even have contributed to AC’s brick-and-mortar decline, and posted the following observation on OnlinePokerReport:
“Online gambling has perhaps sped up this process by bringing new revenue streams to the casinos that are “driving the car” in the AC market while the hangers-on were flung from the roof like they are in so many action movies.. If online gambling were to blame, then Atlantic City would have been hardest hit when offshore companies had free rein to operate in the United States [up until 2007] which just happened to coincide with one of Atlantic City’s most profitable periods.”
As for the Trump Plaza/Betfair igaming partnership, just $3.7 million in gross online gambling revenues have been generated this year, placing it bottom of the state’s other collaborations which include Borgata/bwin.party, Tropicana/Virgin, Caesars/888, the Golden Nugget/Bally Tech, and Trump Taj Mahal/Ultimate Gaming.
An important factor in Trump Plaza/Betfair’s disappointing performance is the fact Donald Trump retained the right to use the Trump Plaza name for future igaming projects. Launching their product on theBetfairCasino.com website subsequently meant they were placed at a major disadvantage against such casinos as Tropicana, Borgata, and Caesars, who were able to use their brand names and player bases to help build their online businesses.
Following Trump Plaza’s closure come September, Betfair will need to seek out a new land-based casino partner if it is to continue operating in New Jersey’s online gambling market.