West Virginia is one of a handful of states in the US that has legalized online gambling. Just this week, it was announced that a new brand is preparing to enter the market. Golden Nugget has teamed up with The Greenbrier via a new market access deal to launch mobile sports betting and online casino services. The announcement comes a short time after Golden Nugget debuted a deal with Wilmot Gaming in Illinois.
New Services for West Virginia
With the deal, Golden Nugget must first obtain regulatory approval from state regulators. Once that is completed, the operator will be able to offer online casino and sports betting services in the state based on a license held by the casino. For access to the license, The Greenbrier will receive a cut of the revenues. However, the exact details of this remain a mystery.
Right now, in West Virginia, only BetMGM and DraftKings offer online casino services. DraftKings launched first and was followed by BetMGM shortly thereafter. FanDuel was expected to be the next to launch as they have a partnership with The Greenbrier. However, they have yet to go live. It is unclear why the brand has not launched services yet.
Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) CEO and president, Tilman J. Fertitta, commented on the partnership, stating that this is an important milestone for the online gaming expansion plans of the company.
Moving Forward in the US
For many years, the Golden Nugget has dominated the online gambling industry in New Jersey. With the deal in West Virginia and a launch lined up for Pennsylvania and Michigan, the brand is setting itself up for more markets across the nation.
If the company can see the same success in other states, they will be the top operator to beat throughout the United States. The brand is a qualified gaming entity in Pennsylvania, which allows them to offer services in the state and they are working with the Ojibwa Casino in Michigan to get started online. We expect they will expand into other states too as iGaming is legalized.
In West Virginia the brand is now the third and final partner that The Greenbrier can work with. All of the casinos in the state have the ability to launch three online brands per vertical, which is poker, online casino and sports betting. The Greenbrier already works with BetMGM and FanDuel.
GNOG is going to be quite busy over the next few months as they launch online gambling services in three states. In these states, the brand does not have a retail presence, which might be a hinderance. If players are unfamiliar with the brand, they might not be willing to give it a try.
However, the Golden Nugget knows what they are doing and offer a full iGaming experience to their customers. It will be interesting to see what happens once the brand is fully operational in the state and how the brand fares. Will they see the same success as they have in the Garden State or will their success be a slower process?
