Business Boost for Online Gambling Companies in USA Amid Casino Closures
The online gambling providers in the US have revealed that they are seeing a significant increase in the number of players, as well as revenue, in recent days amid land-based shutdowns.
FOX Bet, one of the leading sports betting platform, said that its online casino and poker operations saw a sharp increase since last week.
“When the NBA shut down, we really saw a sharp increase since that date. We’re seeing a very strong shift to poker and online casino,” Robin Chhabra, CEO of FOX Bet, said.
Rush Street Interactive, which runs the PlaySugarHouse.com and BetRivers.com online sites, is also experiencing the same thing. Rush Street said that it has seen an increase in business, which it hopes will make up for at least some of the lost revenue from real-world casinos.
“It is still early and we are expecting the uptick to continue in the next few days,” Mattias Stetz, Chief Operating Officer of Rush Street said.
Resorts Casino has witnessed a noticeable increase in online gambling in recent days, according to President Mark Giannantonio.
The Golden Nugget is also seeing a virus-related increase in its online numbers too, with a 20% increase in new player signups this month.
“This is definitely the best alternate option we can offer to our live casino players,” Thomas Winter, Golden Nugget’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of online gambling, said.
Joe Lupo, president of Hard Rock, is not expecting online revenue to increase enough to begin to make up for lost in-person revenue.
“This is not like a snowstorm that will end in 48 hours. This is so unprecedented and the timetable is simply unknown as to when employment and the economy rebounds,” he said.
David Schwartz, a gambling historian with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), said more states should adopt online gambling.
