The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced another set of temporary regulations that will govern the new online gambling industry, and has addressed, for the first time, the number of skins that interactive gambling license holders are permitted to have.
Much to the satisfaction of stakeholders in the industry, the gambling authority said that an unlimited number of skins will be permitted.
This has been a contentious issue since Pennsylvania started making the move towards legal online gambling. Some operators such as Penn National and Parx Casino have lobbied the government to limit skins to one per operators. Others, such as 888, demanded that casinos be allowed to operate multiple skins, similar to the system used in New Jersey’s successful igaming market.
It seems that the advantages of multiple skins outweighed the disadvantages, and the Pennsylvania gambling authority recognized these. Limiting operators to just one skin would mean that smaller casinos that had less brand recognition would find it difficult to compete with their larger rivals. In addition, borrowing again on New Jersey’s experience, the authority realized that there is an appetite for multiple online casinos.
One of the conditions of the new regulations spelled out is that the skins have to make it very clear on their website which brand of casino they belong to.
“All interactive gaming skins must, at all times, clearly identify the interactive gaming certificate holder or an entity within the interactive gaming certificate holder’s organizational structure, on the display screen visible to players,” reads one of the chapters of the regulations published.
The gambling authority was forced to make a decision regarding skins since it has already made April 16th as the first date of accepting online gaming license applications.
The decision about multiple skins is good news, especially for smaller casino entities who may find the huge $10 million license fee easier to swallow if they are at a level playing ground with bigger brands. In addition, operators from out of state, such as those in New Jersey, will now be able to participate in Pennsylvania’s market, bringing their experience into the fledgling industry.
