NetEnt Gets the Nod to Supply Online Casino Content in Pennsylvania

NetEnt ramps up preparations for its entry in Pennsylvania’s online gambling market with a conditional license from regulators

NetEnt has obtained a conditional license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to provide its online casino content in the state’s newly regulated market. The company has been among the first providers of online gaming products to have been licensed by the local regulator ahead of the upcoming official opening of the market.

The Swedish online gaming supplier submitted its application for an Interactive Gaming Manufacturer Conditional License last September. NetEnt will be able to provide its products to interested local gambling operators while its application for a full license is under review.

Pennsylvania legalized online gambling in the fall of 2017 as part of a sweeping reform of the state’s gambling industry. However, legal online casino services are yet to go live in the state. This is expected to happen in mid-2019, according to the latest comments of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on the topic.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel shockingly released a revised opinion on the Wire Act, overturning a 2011 opinion that limited the scope of the legislation to sports betting. The new interpretation of the act extends it to all forms of online gambling.

The revised opinion spooked the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and fellow regulators from other states where online gaming is legal as experts threatened the new interpretation could dismantle the nation’s regulated online gambling industry.

The Pennsylvania gambling regulator urged licensed online gambling operators to ensure that they operations were in full compliance with the new Wire Act opinion.

NetEnt Inks Agreements with Pennsylvania Casinos

NetEnt has penned content distribution agreements with several Pennsylvania casino operators, while awaiting its conditional license from the Gaming Control Board. Last October, the company signed a customer agreement with Penn Online Entertainment, LLC, the online gaming division of local gambling operator Penn National Gaming.

The Swedish gaming company inked another deal that would further help it extend its footprint across the regulated market of Pennsylvania last month. Through that deal, NetEnt’s content will go live with Parx Online, the digital gaming operation of Pennsylvania’s Parx Casino. NetEnt’s games will be delivered via the GAN platform.

Commenting on the Swedish supplier obtaining a license to provide its products across Pennsylvania casinos, Erik Nyman, Managing Director of NetEnt Americas LLC said in a press release that they are pleased to be in the first round of licensees. Mr. Nyman went on to say that this fits their strategy to be live with their products “at the first day of market opening.”

As mentioned earlier, Pennsylvania’s online gaming market is likely to officially open sometime in mid-2019.

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