Evolution to Build $75M Live Casino Dealer Studio Campus in Atlantic City

Posted on: May 24, 2024, 12:08h. 

Last updated on: May 23, 2024, 01:09h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Evolution has filed plans in Atlantic City to build a $75 million campus where its live dealer casino games would operate for iGaming businesses across New Jersey.

Evolution Atlantic City iGaming live dealer
A rendering of the studio campus Evolution wants to build in Atlantic City. Evolution provides iGaming platforms with live dealer table games. SOSH Architects, a local design firm, produced the project rendering. (Image: SOSH Architects)

Sweden-based Evolution is the iGaming market leader in the United States for live dealer online casino table games. The firm works with numerous online casino platforms in the Garden State in business-to-business partnerships.

Evolution currently has live studios inside Hard Rock, Ocean Casino Resort, and Tropicana. From there, the dealers facilitate table games for remote internet bettors.

Evolution wants to build a dedicated studio at 2301 Fairmont Avenue. The property is currently a paved parking lot. For the project to be greenlit, Evolution first needs the approval of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA). The government agency oversees land-use planning and construction measures within the Atlantic City Tourism District.

The CRDA additionally owns the property Evolution seeks to acquire and redevelop.

Projection Petition?

Evolution has hired the law firm of Cooper Levenson and partner Lloyd D. Levenson to represent its facility project.

Levenson heads the firm’s casino and iGaming practice and has been a long supporter of the Atlantic City gaming industry. Levenson is also a major benefactor of Stockton University, which helped establish the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality, and Tourism (LIGHT) at the public university.

Levenson told CRDA officials this week that Evolution currently employs about 850 employees in Atlantic City. The workforce would be significantly larger if it weren’t for being limited by space at the three casino resorts.

If the CRDA agrees to sell or give the roughly one-acre plot to Evolution, the company says its staff would likely increase to around 2,000 employees by 2029.

New Jersey’s online gaming law requires that live dealer operations only be conducted from within Atlantic City. The regulation was to limit the economic impact of online gambling on Atlantic City.

iGaming Continues Growth

New Jersey is one of only seven states with legal online casino gambling. The others are Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

New Jersey’s online gaming revenue skyrocketed amid the pandemic and hasn’t slowed since. Online gross gaming revenue (GGR) since iGaming began in 2013 totals more than $7 billion, with the bulk of that haul coming in recent years.

Online GGR in 2019 totaled $482.7 million. As Atlantic City closed for an unprecedented 107 days from mid-March until early July on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) orders, iGaming win more than doubled in 2020 to $970.2 million.

Online gamblers lost even more money in 2021, as iGaming win climbed about 41% to $1.36 billion. In 2022, iGaming win rose 22% to $1.66 billion, and another 16% last year to $1.92 billion. Through April 2024, iGaming is up another 21%.

New Jersey receives 15% of the gross iGaming revenue. Last year, that amounted to approximately $288.5 million.

While online gaming revenue has risen 300% from 2019, legacy play, defined as slot machines and table games inside the nine Atlantic City casinos, grew only 6% from $2.68 billion to $2.84 billion.