37 Firms Apply To Go Into Internet Gambling In NJ
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., (AP) - Thirty-seven firms have applied to get a piece of the Internet gambling business when it gets underway in New Jersey later this year.
The state Gaming Enforcement Division says it received the applications by Monday's deadline for initial consideration, a major milestone in Atlantic City's development of online betting. The state will make the names public as they are approved.
Under a law signed this year, casinos with a physical presence in Atlantic City will be allowed to offer online betting. The system is scheduled to go live Nov 23. All 12 of the city's casinos have said they want to offer online casinos by working with partners.
All the vendors in the enterprise must be licensed. Monday's deadline was for those groups, including payment processing firms, networking companies, software providers and others connected to online gambling.
Companies can continue to apply to be in the business in New Jersey, but only those who have their materials in now are expected to be operating in November.
New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada are the only states that have laws to allow online gambling — and only Nevada has a legal enterprise running. But so far, Nevada's Internet gambling is available only to people in the state.
At least two international online gambling companies have been trying to buy existing casinos.
The London-based firm 2UP Gaming and its financial partner MidOil USA announced last week that they're trying to buy a casino soon, and if a deal can't be struck, they'll build a new one. The group said it would make its decision on buying or building by early September. The group said it had filed applications to be in the online gambling business, so if a sale goes through, it could offer legal online gambling in the U.S. as soon as it launches in New Jersey.
The Rational Group, based in the Isle of Mann and the parent company of Pokerstars, is in litigation over whether it can buy The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. Pokerstars has also hedged by applying with the state government for permission to run an online casino for Resorts Casino Hotel.
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