Hardrock Casino Online Soft-Launched
Newcomer to Atlantic City is powered by GIG
Thursday’s spectacularly entertaining launch of the new Hard Rock land casino in Atlantic City has been followed by the news that the company’s online offering, Hardrockcasino.com, has soft-launched, powered by experienced online casino company Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) in an agreement signed back in February this year (see previous InfoPowa reports).
GIG received its provider transactional waiver this week from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, allowing it to provide the real-money online casino technology and games to Hard Rock.
Hardrockcasino.com is expected to offer live dealer action beamed from an Atlantic City location, but details on this future event and with whom the company will partner have yet to be released. Ezugi and Evolution are active in the Atlantic City live dealer market.
Ocean Resort land gambling operations located in the former Revel skyscraper in Atlantic City have also commenced, and the company has confirmed that it is to launch a branded online casino early next (July) month in a technology partnership with GAN, which also powers the Betfair online casino in Atlantic City.
Hardrock Chairman Outlines Sports Betting Plans
Land and online sports betting on company’s Atlantic City horizon
Speaking to reporters at the lavish opening of Hard Rock International’s new Atlantic City casino this week, chairman Jim Allen laid industry speculation to rest by revealing that sports betting, both land and online, is very much part of the company’s plans.
There have been reports that Hard Rock’s commercial connections with the NFL could prove an obstacle to this, but here’s what Allen reportedly had to say at a press conference:
“I know we have had quite a few questions over the last month or so in regards to our ability to offer a sportsbook and the answer is “yes.” The media is probably aware that we are involved in the now world-famous Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida. We are the host of the 100-year anniversary of the NFL and the 2020 Super Bowl.
“The events there have exceeded even our expectations. But there are some restrictions in our agreement which we want to comply with in accordance with our relationship with Stephen Ross, the Miami Dolphins and obviously the NFL.
“So we will not be able to set the bet, but we certainly are able to partner with other companies, which frankly is most of the models where you partner with say a provider or a platform provider, and that will be our goal for Atlantic City.”
Allen went on to assert that his company’s Atlantic City operations would also offer online sports betting , although he could not put a timeframe on that possibility. He said that Hard Rock will work within the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement guidelines, probably with a focus on the mobile sector of the market.
“Nobody has that technology approved yet by the DGE,” Allen said. “We are in that process so we’ll be making some announcements in the next 30 or 60 days as far as how we are going to do that. That means Hard Rock could be up and running by the time football season rolls around. We still don’t know who Hard Rock’s sports betting partner(s) will be, of course.”
As reported earlier Friday by InfoPowa, Hard Rock’s online casino went live this week in a soft launch, powered by Gaming Innovation Group.
Continent 8 Making An Impact In Atlantic City
Isle of Man data centre company is about to invest $5 million in a third New Jersey data centre, providing support for eSports and other sectors
New Jersey media reports Wednesday indicate that the US division of Isle of Man-based data centre provider Continent 8 is on the threshold of making a $5 million investment in New Jersey to build a major data centre.
The reports claim that such a centre will have capacity and bandwidth to handle sports betting, along with large eSports events in Atlantic City, and could be used by a variety of other industries as well.
The company is expected to make an official announcement on the plans next week, with construction set to begin in autumn, and an operational date scheduled for Q1-2019.
The media reports quote Michael Tobin, CEO of Continent 8, who said that technology can aid a number of industries, further helping Atlantic City diversify its economic base.
“We see the building of an independent data centre in Atlantic City as a critical part of infrastructure that does not yet exist, for any job or company using technology in South Jersey,” Tobin said.
The company already has locations in Newark and the Ocean Resort Casino and Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, connecting New Jersey with more than 30 locations across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and providing private connectivity and the ability for companies in these areas to expand globally.
The new data centre will apparently be constructed at the Atlantic City Convention Center, which is currently underutilised. In June, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) board of directors approved entering into a lease with Continent 8 Technologies for space at the Center, and Marshall Spevak, deputy executive director at the CRDA, expects the papers will be signed soon.
“We are excited to have an internationally known leader in the tech space building a real presence in Atlantic City,” he said. “Having a company like Continental 8 operating in Atlantic City allows us to continue to attract new businesses and conventions to the city who will know we have an internationally recognized company with the technological infrastructure in place to host them.”
Tobin revealed that the data centre will be powered through solar panels already available at the Centre. He said that his company has the capability to serve nearby banks, hospitals, casinos, universities, airports and more from its data centre in Atlantic City.
“Atlantic City is rejuvenating and reinventing itself,” Tobin said. “There are companies that I am quite sure will want to come and run their digital marketing operations here because of the quality of life, the less-expensive taxes and the proximity to both Philadelphia and New York City.
“The push to become a wired city will open up economic development opportunities for the entire South Shore region.”