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The proverbial rubber is now making contact with the figurative road for Fanatics Betting & Gaming’s online casino platform. That product is now available for players in New Jersey, marking the final launch in the most lucrative markets in the United States.
In the wake of the New Jersey rollout, the time to analyze Fanatics’ strategy to compete for market share across the four biggest US online gaming states has begun. While these markets have never been more appealing to online gambling companies, it’s unclear exactly how Fanatics will define success.
Fanatics completes online casino implementation with New Jersey
After going live with an integrated Fanatics Sportsbook and Casino app in Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, New Jersey was the missing piece of the puzzle. As of Wednesday, May 8, that piece is in its place for Fanatics.
According to a news release from the company, all New Jersey “PointsBet customers’ username, password, account balance, rewards points and responsible gaming settings will be automatically migrated to” Fanatics’ gaming app. With that migration, the Fanatics takeover of PointsBet’s US operations is complete.
New Jersey is vital for the online casino portion of Fanatics’ app. Alongside their Michigan and Pennsylvania counterparts, New Jersey online casino players generate a high amount of win for licensees monthly.
For example, New Jersey set a record for online casino licensees’ win for a month in March at more than $197.1 million. Fanatics can now deploy its assets to maximize its share of sums like that.
As far as product goes, the platform has the necessary features to compete.
Fanatics Casino offers exclusive and familiar facets
Like many of its competitors in New Jersey, Fanatics offers a mix of the familiar for New Jersey online casino players and some aspects unique to its app. For example, exclusive content includes Fanatics Blackjack and Fanatics Multi-hand Blackjack games.
Players will find access to live dealer games operated by Evolution on the app as well. Furthermore, Fanatics Casino players will find game titles from well-known studios like IGT and Light & Wonder on the app.
The most unique aspect of Fanatics Casino is the integration of the broader company’s rewards program, FanCash. Players can earn FanCash with each play on Fanatics Casino and redeem those rewards for myriad experiences and merchandise in addition to perks within the app itself.
It’s unlikely that Fanatics is depending solely on the ability to potentially turn hands of blackjack into a New Jersey Devils sweater to market its product, however. How Fanatics Betting & Gaming proceeds now that the PointsBet migration is over will bear much intrigue for the gaming industry.
The stage is set for Fanatics to make its move
Fanatics extending its enterprise to gambling was a big deal when the company originally announced the move for two reasons. To begin with, Fanatics’ existing revenue streams gave the company access to a good amount of capital to build out and market its product with.
Additionally, Fanatics’ built-in customer base gave it a reservoir of potential players at a reduced cost. To this point, though, devoting resources to the PointsBet migration and finishing the Fanatics-branded product has taken a lot of attention.
With that now done, Fanatics can concentrate on growing its gambling business. The exact strategy for this next stage, in terms of an online casino, is uncertain as of yet. There are many directions that Fanatics could go, perhaps simultaneously. The end goal will be the determining factor in that deployment.
To what extent Fanatics will be able to wrestle away market share in terms of gross gaming revenue from industry leaders remains to be seen. That might not even be Fanatics’ ultimate measurement for success in the gaming space, either.
Rather, Fanatics might be more focused on maximizing its take of its share of that revenue. In simpler terms, keeping a bigger portion of the dollars deposited into its app. To use a pie analogy, it’s like emphasizing choosing the best piece rather than the biggest piece.
Whatever strategy it will deploy from here, that time is now upon Fanatics Betting & Gaming. New Jerseyans will be part of the company’s next stage.
