New Jersey in race against the clock over igaming legalization extension
Legislators set to review renewal bill ahead of 10-year expiry of prior greenlight
The process to extend New Jersey’s game-changing legalization of igaming kicked up a notch this week with passage of a renewal bill through the Garden State’s legislature.
A 2013 law which provided the state with a 10-year window to operate igaming expires in November, with the state already looking to extend this for a further 10-year period.
The extension comprises two distinct pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 3075 and its companion Assembly Bill 2190, both introduced in 2022 as part of the state’s legislative agenda.
Under the legislation, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) is given responsibility for determining when the extension takes effect, subject to a minimum period of three months and a maximum period of nine months, save for a specific application by the division to do so.
These bills allow the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to extend this deadline beyond its nine-month statute if there is “good cause” where needed.
The NJDGE is also mandated to provide all casino licensees and other online casino operators with 45 days’ notice of the igaming extension’s instigation.
SB 3075 has passed through two separate committee stages, firstly being considered by the Senate’s Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, which voted 5-0 to pass the bill in November 2022, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to debate the legislation later today.
AB 2190 has enjoyed a similar journey through the second chamber of the legislature, being debated and surviving successive votes by the Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee in September 2022 and more recently the Assembly’s State and Local Government Committee on June 8.
AB 2190 has been reported and referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which will commence its own deliberations over the coming weeks.
State officials have shied away from making the legalization permanent, despite the overwhelming success of the vertical in the state.
The legalization of igaming in New Jersey was a watershed moment in the push not only towards expanding the vertical into the US but also the wider introduction of sports betting into the market, with the Garden State being the chief instigator of the lawsuit which eventually repealed PASPA.
New Jersey is one of just six states to legalize igaming, with West Virginia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Delaware all following its lead.
In the most recent set of NJDGE statistics, igaming revenue rose 16% year on year in April to $158.9m, with sports betting revenues upsurging by 43% over the same period to $72.3m.
On a year-to-date basis, the Garden State has generated $620.1m in igaming revenue, up 13% from 2022, with sports betting revenue jumping 40% to $292.4m over the same period.