Golden Nugget Atlantic City Joins New Jersey Online Betting Frenzy

Golden Nugget Atlantic City now operates a digital sportsbook in addition to its in-person betting facility. In a Thursday press release, the Boardwalk property announced that bettors can now place bets on its Golden Nugget Casino website via desktop and mobile devices.

Golden Nugget’s brand new operation brought the number of digital sportsbook in New Jersey to 13. The state legalized the provision of sports betting just weeks after the US Supreme Court annulled a long-standing federal ban on the practice. New Jersey’s first in-person sportsbooks were launched last June and digital operations went live not long after.

Golden Nugget’s online sportsbook is powered by betting expert SBTech and is integrated into its existing casino website.

While the Boardwalk property might be a bit late to the digital sports gambling party, its move to integrate its betting operation into its casino website would certainly help it capitalize on its existing playerbase.

Golden Nugget has long been the leader in New Jersey’s online casino space. The gaming venue generated Internet gambling revenue of $104.7 million last year, claiming a nearly 35% share of the local market which was worth just under $300 million in 2018.

Judging by New Jersey’s January gambling revenue report, the casino’s online gaming reign seems to be poised to continue this year. The property recorded Internet gambling revenue of $12.2 million last month, up nearly 67% from January 2019 and more than any other local casino.

No Betting on NBA

While the NBA is in full swing, Golden Nugget’s New Jersey-based customers will not be able to place wagers on NBA games. The Boardwalk casino and NBA team the Houston Rockets share the same owner – Tilman Fertitta. The Texas-born billionaire businessman bought the Rockets for $2.2 billion back in October 2017.

Under New Jersey’s sports betting law, owners of sports teams can offer betting on all types of sports apart from the sport or league where the conflict of interest lies. Golden Nugget has hoped to convince state lawmakers to allow it to offer betting on NBA games excluding those involving the Rockets. Such is the case in Nevada, where Mr. Fertitta’s gaming operations offer NBA betting on all teams aside from his own.

Despite the lack of NBA betting, Golden Nugget Atlantic City bettors still have plenty of options with Major League Baseball and March Madness right around the corner. In addition, the casino’s digital sportsbook went live right ahead of this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony and will certainly see quite some volume as bettors will be rushing to wager on who the winners in the 24 categories will be.