Virgin Casino Sets Up to Conquer US Market

Any online gaming operator hoping to offer their services in the USA legally in the near future has two states at the top of their list; New Jersey and California. That’s because of the complex manner in which regulation of “remote gaming” will unfold; those states offer influence and income respectively.

New Jersey is a relatively small state (population 9 million), boasting a huge casino industry which contributes hefty tax revenues. Legalising online gambling is a much simpler process when an experienced, local regulator already exists and New Jersey’s online casinos will also have to form partnerships with existing “brick and mortar” establishments.

Virgin Capitalizes on US Market

In 2010, Virgin Group announced that their Virgin Casino subsidiary would form a partnership with the Tropicana Casino and be the first operator to offer legal online bingo to Americans. Virgin Casino and Virgin Games are both operated under licence by the Gamesys group, who operate backend technology and are experienced game developers. Gamesys recently sold a suite of key brands to anothercompany seeking to cash in on the US goldrush; private equity group Intertain.

It is likely that New Jersey will act to offer its regulatory services to neighbours (for a cut of tax revenue, of course). Thus, the theory goes, acquiring one of the dozen or so New Jersey licences could offer access to a large slice of the US population.

The other big prize is California; where online regulation has been stalling in the state legislature for six long years. The reason is much simpler, cash. California has a population of almost 40 million and is one of the richest, per capita, in the Union. What’s more Californians clearly have an appetite for gambling (evidenced by the proliferation of grey market gaming parlours), but few legal outlets.

Virgin Expansion

Virgin CEO Simon Burridge has specifically mentioned Florida and California as early targets for the burgeoning Virgin Casino; as well as international markets in South Africa, France and Spain. Burridge made it frank he believed that an ambitious agenda would require hefty investment but, with Gamesys recently receiving £425.8 million for their recently sold brands, it’s hard to imagine that will be a problem.

Virgin Games was not the most high-profile player in the UK’s domestic online market; perhaps as it was never marketed as much as rivals. Now however, ambitious expansion plans into (formerly) regulated markets, Virgin Casino will reverse that advantage - as often there will be no pre-existing competition. With commercially savvy tie-ins and a potentially hefty marketing budget; Virgin Casino could yet make Sir Richard Branson and Gamesys another fortune!