Caesars Entertainment Research Proves Online Gambling Not Cannibalizing Land-based Casinos

Online gambling doesn’t steal players from land-based casinos in New Jersey according to latest research.

In the wake of bad news from New Jersey about underperforming online gambling industry. The second biggest operator of online casinos in the USA in the state, Caesars Entertainment, has carried out a market study.

Prior to the change in American gambling laws, which legalized the online facilities in the state, it was widely feared that online offerings will pose a threat to land-based operations. Caesars, naturally, runs brick-and-mortar casinos on top of the online destinations, and the operators was one of those fearing cannibalization.

The study

The Caesars Entertainment study has just proved that online gambling facilities don’t pose any threat to land-based operations, at least now in New Jersey. The review was carried out to find out what cities and towns are online gamers accessing the facilities.

Caesars research shows there’s no cannibalism between online and land-based gambling
• New Jersey operators of online casinos in the USA feared online gambling will reduce land-based
• Study proved fears wrong
• Land-based and online casinos clientele are not the same

The study has also proved that most online gamblers weren’t choosing this type of gambling over going to brick-and-mortar establishments. The online gamers are not the usual range of clients, frequenting land-based casinos in New Jersey.

Seth Palansky, the Caesars spokesman, told American gambling news that the operator is fully confident now that the players enjoying online gambling at their sites, are not doing so instead of traveling to Atlantic City.

He said: “We’re finding very similar patterns as other companies. The people online are people that haven’t visited us in a while or are new players altogether. We’re not seeing cannibalization.”

The results of the review show that online gamers log onto the gambling sites from a variety of locations within an hour’s drive from land-based casinos. Nonetheless, they are not the same gamers, which come to brick-and-mortar establishments to place a bet or two.

Other studies

Other online gambling operators in the state have also come to the same conclusions about cannibalization between online and land-based gambling facilities. Borgata, the leading online gambling company in New Jersey, carried out their own research revealing that over 85 percent of their online gamers have not been at a land-based casino for at least 2 years.

Earlier this year, the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Richard Stockton College conducted their own poll about online gambling in New Jersey. The research revealed that 2.5 percent of gamblers in the state swapped land-based gambling for online, once the latter became legal in the state. Another 7 percent of poll-takers said they are planning to venture into online gambling during the coming year.

Caesars

Seth Palansky, the Caesars spokesman, revealed that the largest number of online gamers comes from Toms River in Ocean County. Next up on the list are Jersey City, Cherry Hill in Camden County, Brick in Ocean County, and Hoboken.

He said: “What’s interesting is there was no extra attention paid to any of these markets. This is only our first 100 days in the market. We really need year over year statistics to get reliable enough data to take advantage of this more." Caesars Atlantic City casino is operating since 1979 and is one of the longest-running and biggest land-based operations within the state. Caesars Entertainment operates three online gambling sites within the state borders from November 2013. The online gambling offerings are targeting the state’s residents and visitors. There are two distinct online casinos tied to land-based establishments: Caesars and Harrah’s, and one online poker site tied to WSOP brand.

All three online gambling destinations are offering full online casino suites including blackjack, poker, roulette, baccarat, online slots, video poker, and much more. The sites are compatible both with Windows and Mac operating systems. Casinos are available on a no download platform, while the online poker site must be downloaded to players’ desktops in order to operate.

Caesars Entertainment is also working hard on delivering mobile apps for all three online gambling sites. These will provide gamers with simple ways to enjoy gaming whenever they want to from any location within the state straight from their mobile devices.