DraftKings will close its live dealer studio located inside Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget in January 2025. DraftKings has operated live dealer table games for online casino players in New Jersey from its Golden Nugget studio since 2022 after acquiring Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) for $1.56 billion. This development was first reported by Next.io, a media publishing firm covering the iGaming industry. DraftKings recently filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with New Jersey’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development, informing the state of its plans to shutter the Golden Nugget iGaming studio in January, which will result in the loss of 101 jobs.
“We are supporting impacted employees to offer a smooth transition for as many as possible,” a DraftKings official stated.
DraftKings is licensed to operate online slot machines, table games, and sports betting through its partnership with Resorts, and it also runs a retail sportsbook at the Boardwalk casino. However, the company is not ending its interactive table game offerings in New Jersey; instead, it is transitioning these operations to third-party studios in Atlantic City. “As we finalize our GNOG integration, effective January 31, 2025, DraftKings will transition its in-house live dealer operations to third-party studios in Atlantic City. Our live dealer offerings will remain uninterrupted,” the statement explained.
The DraftKings Casino in New Jersey currently offers around 70 live dealer games during nonpeak hours and over 100 during evenings and weekends, including blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, Sic Bo, and poker. Although the company did not explicitly state this, it is highly likely that DraftKings will move its Golden Nugget live dealer operations to Evolution, the leading interactive live dealer supplier in the iGaming space. In May, the Sweden-headquartered gaming tech giant announced a $75 million investment plan to build an iGaming campus in Atlantic City. Evolution already runs iGaming dealer operations from Hard Rock, Ocean Casino Resort, and Tropicana, and DraftKings uses Evolution for some of its live dealer tables in New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Evolution is consolidating its Atlantic City operations into a dedicated studio at 2301 Fairmont Ave., currently a paved parking lot across from Angelo’s Fairmount Tavern, a renowned Italian restaurant. Live dealer online table games have grown rapidly in popularity because of their realistic experience and the trust players have in live dealer games compared to computer-operated ones. According to revenue reports from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, DraftKings commands the lion’s share of the iGaming market in the state.
Through September 2024, DraftKings generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) exceeding $375.9 million from remote gamblers in New Jersey, surpassing FanDuel’s $360.4 million. Statewide, iGaming GGR during the first nine months totaled $1.73 billion, indicating that DraftKings holds nearly a 22% market share of New Jersey’s online casino gambling market.
