Man using a smartphone to access Bet365’s online sportsbook in NJ, Photo by ©Pixabay Online Betting

Bet365 Launches Its Own New Jersey Online Sportsbook

By Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer Updated: 29 August 2019

Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer

Amelia Walker is a Senior Content Writer at Betting.US. She has a law degree and deep knowledge of the gambling laws in the United States. Her mission is to keep players informed about responsible gambling, while her passion for sports helps her create useful guides. Amelia has over a decade of experience in betting, which has positioned her as a trusted voice among our readers.

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Bet 365 is currently in the soft launch testing phase of its online sports betting platform. If everything goes smoothly, this will officially introduce the operation of the sports betting company to the U.S. Market. Testing was scheduled soon after the company got its approval from the Division of Gaming Enforcement in New Jersey.

Regulators use this testing phase to make sure that operators such as Bet365 can pull their weight in a competitive market. Conveniently, the launch took place right before the start of the NFL season, which is one of the most lucrative environments for sports betting operators. During the past twelve months, Bet365 has been working on entering the US market.

Looks like one of the UK’s most successful gambling companies, Bet365, has launched very quietly in New Jersey ahead of the NFL.

said Alice Hancock, Leisure Industries Reporter at the Financial Times in a tweet. Now that the company has finally announced the “pre-live phase” of its sports betting platform, people can register accounts once they are within the state lines of New Jersey. To date, other European bookmakers have been quite successful in the US, including William Hill and Paddy Power.

For its new venture, Bet365 is entering a partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. It was agreed upon back in July 2018, not long after the US Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting. Once the Division of Gaming Enforcement determines there are no major issues during testing, it will give Hard Rock and Bet365 the go-ahead for the full launch of their sports betting platform.

Two other online betting platforms have already partnered with the casino. The Gaming Innovation Group went live in January 2019 while a sportsbook that will be under the Unibet brand has not yet launched. Even so, Unibet already has an online casino that is already operational. The Hard Rock Casino is allowed to enter a partnership with no more than three sports betting companies.

The total current number of active sports betting platforms in New Jersey is 16.

Bet365 is not just looking to enter the New Jersey market but is also having further plans for expansion in the US. It is considering expanding into states that permit online sports betting and can give new ground for the company to grow. Its office in Marlton, New Jersey will be dedicated entirely to that expansion effort.

New York has already made a deal with Bet365 for the four commercial casinos that are allowed to offer sports wagering. At the same time, a deal with Empire Resorts will see the company launch another online sports betting platform and its own retail sportsbook. It is also notable that Bet365 bought Empire Resorts shares worth $50 million.

Mobile sports wagering seems to also be on the way for the state of New York. Currently, neighboring New Jersey owes more than 80% of its sports betting revenues to mobile sources, and that makes aiming for online sports betting a reasonable move for New York. The issue is expected to be widely discussed and at least partially resolved during the legislative sessions in 2020.

Bet365 has marked a tremendous success in Europe and became known for allegedly giving its CEO Denise Coates bonuses of up to $256 million. In the past year, the company has been identifying its opportunities in the US market and is expected to make some major moves in the years to come.