NJ egaming bill out of Committee, heads to Senate
New Jersey's bill proposing Atlantic City casinos offer online versions of their games intrastate and to non-US customers passed out of Senate Committee yesterday.
New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak’s bill to bring egaming to New Jersey passed out of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee yesterday by a vote of 10-1, and will now be considered by the full Senate.
S-490 would authorise the state’s Atlantic City casinos to offer online versions of their games to New Jersey and also to international customers. It passed out of Committee as part of a package of Democrat-sponsored bills aimed at propping up the Garden State’s ailing horse racing and casino industries.
Lesniak (pictured) told the Cape May County Herald that if signed into law, New Jersey would become the first US state to have intrastate and international internet gaming, and via a companion bill, would also channel much-needed additional revenues to the state’s horse racing industry.
“The revenues generated and jobs created are now going offshore to international gaming operators. S-490 will redirect those revenues to our casinos in Atlantic City and, under S-11, to build a bridge to self-sufficiency for our horseracing industry and help save its 13,000 jobs and US$1 billion of revenues generated in New Jersey.”
A study commissioned by lobby group the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) which worked with Lesniak on drafting the bill, has estimated that a NJ intrastate gambling system could raise up to US$250m in gross gaming revenue and US$55m in taxes on an annual basis.
A bill approving the betting exchange model for use in the State also passed out of the Senate Committee stage last week.
For more on Senator Lesniak’s drive to bring legalised egaming and sports betting to New Jersey, see his eGR column from earlier this year.