Another sports betting company announced on Aug. 26 it is opening a headquarters on the Hudson River, which is widely regarded as one of the main gambling hubs outside of Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Later this fall, the peer-to-peer U.S. sports betting exchange Prophet is opening its headquarters in Hoboken, ahead of the National Football League and college football season.
Other major venues like DraftKings also have operations based in Hoboken, a single train stop away from Manhattan. Many bars and restaurants in the city partner with operators like DraftKings and PointsBet, catering to the clientele of patrons from New York City, according to a report last year from Time Magazine.
“New Jersey has solidified itself as the new home of sports betting in the USA, thus making it the natural place for us to have our headquarters,” reads an Aug. 26 statement from Dean Sisun, Prophet’s chief executive officer.
German online gaming company Tipico has its U.S. headquarters in Hoboken and rolled out its app for New Jersey customers last November.
“We knew that New Jersey would be the perfect state for us to kick-start our business in the U.S. because of its sophisticated mobile sports betting audience and mature regulatory and licensing environment,” reads a statement that month from Adrian Vella, who heads Tipico’s U.S. operations.
“With an incredible pool of local talent in the New York metro area, we’re thrilled to establish our headquarters in Hoboken.”
FanDuel, another online sports betting operator, has a lounge at the Meadowlands Racetrack just off Route 3, which connects directly to the Lincoln Tunnel to Midtown Manhattan.
Online and mobile app sports betting had dominated the market even before the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in billions of dollars in wagers compared to brick and mortar venues.
“If not for internet gaming for the casino industry, the loss would have been significant,” Jeffrey Vasser, who heads the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, said in an April interview.
In 2019, patrons wagered $3.8 billion online, compared to $787 million at in-person retail sites like the casinos, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which regulates the state’s casinos and gambling industry.
Then in 2020 when casinos, racetracks and sit-down dining were entirely off limits amid the pandemic and then allowed to reopen at reduced capacity, patrons bet $5.5 billion online, compared to $487 million at in-person sites.
As of July, nearly $5 billion has flowed through online and mobile phone sportsbooks, compared to less than $485 million that’s been wagered in person.
“This is truly a one-of-a-kind sports betting marketplace, and we want our business to be fueled by a culture that recognizes and supports the unique position we have and our ability to offer such an attractive product to our users,” Sisun continued.
