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Pennsylvania Regulators Approve Multiple Skins Per Online Gambling License

One of the more contentious and critical issues surrounding regulated online gambling in Pennsylvania has been resolved.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced today that it has approved several new online gambling regulations, including how many independent brands (commonly referred to as skins) can operate under each key online gambling license in the commonwealth’s regulated iGaming market.

While the regulations have not yet been published, a source familiar with the regulations told Play Pennsylvania that licensees may operate multiple skins, as long as they are run through the domain of a land-based casino. How exactly that would function in practice is not clear.

Counsel for the PGCB at a meeting on Wednesday briefly described the regulations for “skins” in broad terms, saying they dealt with the “appearance and content” of skins and how they can win approval in the state.

How the issue got to here

The decision about skins fell to the PGCB because lawmakers failed to address it in the legislation that authorized online gambling.

While the enabling bill referenced the concept of skins, it was silent on the concept of how many — if any — skins could exist under each operator license.

Following the passage of the bill, it became clear that the question of skins was a pressing one for several stakeholders, and that the state’s land-based casinos were split on the question.

With no guidance from the legislation and pressure from stakeholders for clarity, the decision on skins became difficult for regulators to sidestep.

New Jersey’s experience has been positive

In New Jersey’s regulated online casino market, key license holders can operate multiple individual brands or sublease their license to partner brands.

For example, Borgata’s online gambling license is home to four distinct brands:

All told, there are nearly 20 unique online casino and poker brands operating in New Jersey.

As Steve Ruddock recently argued on Online Poker Report, New Jersey’s positive experience with the multiple skins model provides a powerful argument for Pennsylvania adopting a similar formula.

Partnerships and licenses will now come into focus

The open question of how many skins would be allowed per licenses was one of a few factors clouding the landscape in Pennsylvania.

With the issue resolved, we expect that we’ll see a string of announcements on two fronts:

  1. Land-based licenses who haven’t announced if they intend to pursue an online gambling license are likely to clarify their intentions.
  2. Land-based licenses, potential brand partners, and platform providers will start rolling out operational agreements.

The upshot will be a far clearer view on the currently murky partnership picture in PA’s online gambling market.

State regulators expect to begin taking applications from both platform providers and casinos with the next month.

The post Pennsylvania Regulators Approve Multiple Skins Per Online Gambling License appeared first on Play Pennsylvania.