Mohegan Sun and Net Entertainment Both Signed New Deals with the Resorts/PokerStars Gaming Portal.
The effects of PokerStars gaining approval to operate in the New Jersey online gaming market continue to be felt. Resorts Casino, which is partnering with PokerStars on a New Jersey-only online gaming portal, is beginning to make deals based on the potential its partnership’s potential rewards.
Two major gaming companies, Mohegan Sun and Net Entertainment, each signed separate deals with Resorts Casino this week to partner with their online casino operations. In each case, Morris Bailey is trading on the potential of Resort Digital Gaming.
Mohegan Sun Renegotiation
Mohegan Sun has been the manager of Resorts Casino since 2012. It has had a deal in place which would have allowed the Connecticut-based Native American tribe to purchase an additional 15% of Resorts Casino, under certain circumstances.
This week, Mohegan Gaming Advisors renegotiated a deal with Morris Bailey, owner of Resorts Casino. Mohegan Sun now can invest in Resorts Casino’s interactive gaming business. In return, Mohegan Sun tore up the added 15% clause of the old contract. Under terms of the new deal, Mohegan Sun is restricted from owning more than 10% of Resorts casino. The 10% investment was deemed appropriate in a ruling by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which oversees gaming company’s corporate structures.
The new arrangement shows the leverage the PokerStars partnership gives Morris Bailey, a New York real estate investor who bought Resorts in 2010 alongside the late-Dennis Gomes. In the five years since, Morris Bailey has led an impressive turnaround for Atlantic City’s oldest casino. Bailey’s decision to turn management over to the Native American gaming tribe was a major reason for that turnaround. After Gomes died in 2012, Bailey inked a deal that gave Mohegan Sun management duties and a 10% interest in Resorts Casino. Bailey received expertise in the business, along with access to the Mohegan Gaming Advisors’s customer databases for their gaming locations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Casino Control Commission Decision
Matthew Levinson, the Casino Control Commission chairman, said the pact between Resorts and Mohegan Gaming Advisors has been mutually advantageous. After extending the deal through 2019, Levinson said the partnership “has proven to be a valuable tool in strengthening Resorts’ financial position, bringing new visitors to Resorts and Atlantic City, and ultimately furthering the ongoing transition of Atlantic City into a destination resort.”
Morris Bailey’s Impact
Resorts Casino showed a profit for the first time in the Bailey era last year, producing a $2.5 million gross operating profit. From the quarterly reports in 2015, it is obvious the Boardwalk casino will do even better this year.
As time has passed, Morris Bailey has shown considerable vision. He signed a deal with PokerStars in June 2013. It was expected PokerStars would operate the online casino and poker room for Resorts when the New Jersey online gaming industry had its rollout in November 2013. Instead, the PokerStars licensing process was suspended from October 2013 until October 2015. Throughout that time, Morris Bailey continued to wait patiently for the DGE to make its decision, just as he continued to sign checks for Resorts Casino for 3 unprofitable years, confident his patience would be rewarded.
Sign Deal with Net Entertainment
The patience paid off, so now top companies want to be in business with Resorts. This week, Net Entertainment also signed a deal with Morris Bailey’s casino. Like the Mohegan Sun deal, it involves the interactive gaming market.
NetEnt is a Swedish online casino software development firm. It is best known for its online slot machine software, which is considered first-rate. NetEnt is the leader in 3D slots, which have animated graphics which sometimes are eerily lifelike. Several of its slots titles are player favorites.
Transactional Waiver
To expedite its entry into the New Jersey gaming market, NetEnt filed a transactional waiver with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, asking that it be allowed to operate games while its application was under review. Bjorn Krantz, the Managing Director of NetEnt Americas LLC, said the approval of Resorts/Mohegan Sun to file such a waiver was indicative of the trust those companies have in the Swedish gaming software firm.
Mark Giannantonio, CEO and President of Resorts Casino, said his company was pleased to add Net Entertainment’s games to their existing gaming platform. PokerStars will provide support for both the online poker and online casino operations. While PokerStars is the largest poker site in the world, it is not known for its Internet casino software, so adding a top slot machine developer is a boon for Resort Digital Gaming, the interactive unit of the the Resorts/Mohegan partnership.
