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Mohegan Pennsylvania Casino Resort found out last year that its online casino operator, Unibet, was leaving the North American market by the summer of this year. Rather than scrambling for a new operator, Mohegan decided to keep things in-house.
The casino will create its online gambling app via Mohegan Digital Services, eliminating the need for an outside operator.
Mohegan plans a full online casino launch by April
Mohegan laid out its online casino plans to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) during its license renewal meeting earlier this month.
The casino plans to soft-launch its iGaming app on March 18, and then do a full launch on April 18. That full launch will include Mohegan’s loyalty program, Momentum Rewards.
Leading up to that launch, the casino will reach out to Unibet players and provide details on the new app so that existing players can make a smooth transition.
PGCB Director of Communications Doug Harbach told PlayPennsylvania that Mohegan won’t have to go through a “specific process” to launch its online casino.
Unibet app will be operating through June
For at least a couple of weeks, the Mohegan app will be live at the same time as the Unibet app, according to Mohegan’s PGCB license renewal presentation.
Mohegan said Unibet will be live into June but didn’t give a specific date.
The casino will emphasize making player transitions as easy as possible, working with Unibet to give customers a “soft landing” after they leave Unibet.
Mohegan also has plans to take care of Unibet employees by providing jobs for them, where possible, when Mohegan’s online casino launches.
Where Mohegan stands in the Pennsylvania online casino market
There are 10 brick-and-mortar casinos with online casinos and 22 online casinos in Pennsylvania (that number will go back to 21 when Unibet leaves in June). Four casinos operate more than one online casino:
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse (three)
- Rivers Casino Philadelphia (three)
- Valley Forge Resort Casino (two)
- Live! Casino Philadelphia (two)
Here’s how revenue looked in December for top online casinos:
| Casino | Slots Revenue | Table Games Revenue | Poker Revenue | Total Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn National | $41,078,752 | $19,538,279 | $334,265 | $60,951,296 |
| Valley Forge | $25,666,145 | $15,608,935 | $0 | $41,275,080 |
| Rivers Philadelphia | $26,243,726 | $4,964,744 | $111,493 | $31,319,963 |
| Caesars | $7,405,109 | $1,985,590 | $481,588 | $9,872,287 |
| Parx | $3,882,834 | $778,347 | $0 | $4,661,181 |
| Mouint Airy | $1,490,696 | $728,689 | $1,476,803 | $3,696,188 |
| Golden Nugget | $3,285,151 | $350,033 | $0 | $3,635,184 |
| Live! Philadelphia | $2,507,583 | $603,973 | $0 | $3,111,556 |
| Bally's | $2,239,117 | $528,500 | $0 | $2,767,617 |
| Wind Creek | $1,807,596 | $324,860 | $0 | $2,132,456 |
| Mohegan | $1,270,926 | $417,110 | $0 | $1,688,036 |
While Mohegan is among the top revenue earners for brick-and-mortar casinos, its online casino revenue is among the lowest in the state.
It’s hard to predict what effect the Unibet departure will have on Mohegan’s revenue, but it’s possible we could see a revenue dip and then a surge that could help Mohegan creep toward Wind Creek.
