New Jersey online industry to boost credit rating

The Garden State's decision to become the third state to legalise virtual gambling “provides a much-needed boost for a market that has suffered protracted declines,” Moody’s analysts said in a report. 

Ratings agency Fitch also predicted the market to be in the us$ 200 million-us$ 300 million range for the first year, far below Governor Chris Christie's us$ 1.2 billion prediction. Both ratings agencies describe the income as positive, but say the impact will likely be small. “Given the limited profit potential for any individual operator, Internet gaming is unlikely to materially improve credit quality enough to affect ratings for the foreseeable future,” Moody’s said. 

Fitch warned that while a good thing, online gaming would not be the saviour of Atlantic City. Thirteen gambling Web sites run by six casinos went live last Tuesday under a bill signed into law in February. The state regulator announced earlier this week that over 32,000 online gaming accounts had been opened since the launch, with more than 4,000 coming during Thanksgiving.        

During Thanksgiving day, local punters opened 5,000 new accounts at the selection of online casinos that have pioneered the state’s advance into the online sector. 

Full real-money gambling started on Monday afternoon this week following the five day trial period.  

Six Atlantic City casinos -  the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa; the Tropicana Casino and Resort; Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino; the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort; Bally’s Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City – were the first to be approved for online gambling in New Jersey.

The Golden Nugget Atlantic City decided to wait a week to launch its online operation until it has resolved system problems.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement will release its first revenue report from online gambling in January 2014.