Amaya racks up $8.5m in lobbying spend

Annual report shows operator lobbied hard for New Jersey license and to drive progress in California  

Amaya almost tripled its lobbying spend in the US last year to CAD$8.5m as it fought hard to obtain its license in New Jersey and drive legislation across the line in California. [private]

The firm spent $3.1m on US lobbying during 2014, but increased that amount to $8.5m last year as it closed in on its return to the market in the Garden State.

PokerStars is also part of a coalition in California, which includes the San Manuel and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the United Auburn Indian Community, and three of the state’s largest card rooms, lobbying for legalized online poker.

The bulk of that spend was paid out in the first nine months of the year – PokerStars was granted its license in October – with just $252,000 spent in Q4.

The news comes after Amaya reported its full year financial results on Monday, and despite generating revenues of $1.4m posted a net loss of $26m.

PokerStars is set to soft-launch to a small number of players in New Jersey later today, with a full launch slated for March 21.

Amaya CEO David Baazov said Stars’ return to the US was an “eagerly awaited milestone” for both the company and New Jersey players.

“While New Jersey remains a small segregated market, we consider it a significant milestone for PokerStars and for online gaming in the US and it delivers on one of the promises made by us when we acquired the brand in 2014.

“Through targeted investments in marketing and customer acquisition initiatives, we intend for PokerStars to become one of the leading online gaming sites in the New Jersey regulated market,” he added.