PokerStars Pennsylvania to Offer Online Gambling and Sports via Mount Airy

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Monday, August 13th, 2018 | Written by Shane Larson

Last Friday, Mount Airy Casino Resort became the latest casino to announce a strategic relationship with an online operator, with the venue stating that it intends to offer the full range of online gambling and sports wagering products in partnership with The Stars Group. Commenting upon the exciting development, Vincent Jordan, VP of Marketing & Gaming Operations at Mount Airy, stated:

“As one of Pennsylvania’s leaders in entertainment, offering internet sports wagering and gaming and partnering with The Stars Group is the obvious next step for us to continue diversifying our casino offerings. Introducing internet gaming through The Stars Group will provide compelling opportunities for our customers, particularly our younger customers, who are ready to experience the next gaming challenge.”

Nine iGaming Licenses Acquired

Last November, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a bill authorizing online gambling and sports wagering throughout the state, with one stipulation of the legislation being that online gambling operators needed to establish partnerships with the state’s land-based casinos in order to offer their products. This April, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) subsequently opened the license tendering process, and in July received nine full online gambling license applications (table, slots, poker) costing $10 million apiece.

There are currently 12 casinos in the Keystone State, with a 13th casino called Philly Live! expected to open its doors in 2020 . The following venues are now in possession of an iGaming license:

– Parx Casino
– Mount Airy Casino Resort
– Live! Hotel and Casino
– Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem
– Valley Forge Casino Resort
– Rivers Casino
– Sugarhouse Casino
– Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack
– Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course

Just four land-based casinos, however, have finalized online gambling partnerships with operators, namely Valley Forge Casino and GVC, Parx Casino and GAN, while Sugarhouse Casino and Rivers Casino both have a deal in place with Rush Street Gaming, which owns the two casinos.

No Takers Yet for $10M Sports Betting License

Meanwhile, the PGCB has yet to receive a single application for a state sanctioned online sports wagering license, with analysts blaming the situation on its extremely expensive $10 million one-off licensing fee, as well as the exorbitant 36% tax rate on revenue to be levied on sports betting. Nevertheless, Parx Casino and GAN have at least indicated that they intend to provide a sports betting platform in the future, with the PokerStars and Mount Airy Casino now also adding their partnership to the sports betting market’s potential list of candidates.

Benefits of Partnership

The Stars Group and Mount Airy Casino Resort officially announced their partnership on August 10th. The deal has created a great deal of excitement for both companies, too. After all, The Stars Group is looking to expand its presence in the US market beyond New Jersey, with the recent deal providing it access to Pennsylvania, which will soon be the country’s biggest online gambling market.

Meanwhile, Mount Airy Casino, one of the state’s smaller land-based casinos, has been seeking to diversify its gambling product by offering real-money internet gambling. The Stars Group, which owns PokerStars, will therefore enable it to leverage the world’s most famous poker brand and enhance its credibility as a major player in Pennsylvania’s online gambling market.

The partnership could also signify good times ahead for the country’s US online poker market. Currently, just New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada offer regulated online poker, with the trio having launched a multistate player sharing pool in May. Up until now, however, PokerStars has been shut out of the other jurisdictions, while the 888poker/WSOP partnership has been the sole beneficiary of the network.

Although Pennsylvania has yet to sign on to the agreement, that is expected to change once its online gambling market is launched. PokerStars would subsequently become available in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with the brand undoubtedly proving a popular destination of choice for players across both populous states.

The Stars Group

The Stars Group currently offers online poker (PokerStars), online slots and table games (PokerStars Casino), and sports betting (BetStars), which will all be integrated and be available under a single site post-launch. A few years back PokerStars diversified beyond just poker in order to make its business model more competitive, and according to the company’s latest quarterly results revenues are now equally divided between the three verticals.

“The continued emergence of our sports betting and casino offerings and the addition of our 2018 acquisitions have transformed our business and greatly enhanced the foundation and diversity of our consolidated revenue base,” explains Rafael Ashkenazi, CEO for The Stars Group.