LeoVegas Teams Up with Caesars for NJ Online Casino Debut

LeoVegas is set to enter the US regulated online gambling space through a partnership with casino powerhouse Caesars Entertainment, Inc., news emerged Monday.

The online casino and sports betting operator announced that New Jersey would be the first stop in its US expansion as the company has recently sealed an agreement to enter the Garden State’s iGaming space with its flagship LeoVegas brand.

The company further explained that its operation will be powered by its proprietary platform, Rhino. The platform is fully ported to Google Cloud to ensure scalability and stability. It is designed to support multiple brands and currently handles more than 10 iGaming and sports betting operations. The platform is licensed to power brands in seven different jurisdictions.

To be able to deliver regulated online gambling experience, LeoVegas is set to apply for certification with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The operator said that it has chosen to use its proprietary technology as this would give it full control over its iGaming product and will enable it to deliver “unique and competitive gaming experience” to its future US customers.

LeoVegas expects to accept its first New Jersey (and US) players in the first half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other steps that it needs to tick off as complete as it prepares for its US debut.

Full Control Offers Key Competitive Advantage

Commenting on their pending entry into the US, LeoVegas Group CEO Gustaf Hagman said that the American market has “immense growth potential” as players are just discovering regulated online gaming.

Mr. Hagman went on to explain that in this new market too they will focus on what they feel they are best at – “offering an innovative, world-class gaming experience directly in mobile phones.”

As for their decision to venture into the US with their proprietary platform, Mr. Hagman said that this was a strategic decision as they know from other markets they are present in that “having full control over our technology is a key competitive advantage.”

With population of nine million people and nine operational land-based casinos, all of which located in Atlantic City, New Jersey was one of the first US states to regulate online casino-style gaming in the early 2010s. The state was also one of the first to go live with regulated sports betting after the US Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice.

Today, New Jersey’s online gambling market is the largest in the US with revenue of more than $1 billion recorded in 2020.

News about LeoVegas making its first foray into this lucrative space emerge shortly after the company announced that it has ventured into the game development sector with the launch of the Blue Guru Games in-house studio. The new studio’s first games are expected to be rolled out in late 2021.

Source: LeoVegas announces launch in the USA, PR Newswire, May 17, 2021