In a bold stride towards revolutionizing the virtual Vegas skyline, Evolution, the Swedish titan of the iGaming industry, has cast its innovative net over Atlantic City’s shores, unveiling a staggering $75 million blueprint for a campus designed for live dealer casino games. This ultra-modern bastion of digital gaming would rise as the nucleus for New Jersey’s thriving iGaming ecosystem, serving an array of online casinos in seamless, business-to-business symbiosis.
The shimmering mirage of this future studio buzzed into reality through a detailed architectural rendering, care of SOSH Architects—a vision of Evolution’s campus emergent from what is now but an expanse of paved vacancy at 2301 Fairmont Avenue. But before this asphalt desert blooms into the promised live dealer oasis, the powerful gears of bureaucracy must turn—and turn favorably—within the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA). This sentinel of the Tourism District must nod in approval, marrying land-use foresight with the grand construction plans laid before them, this campus not merely a house of cards, but a stronghold of digital domain.
Such weighty matters are far from foreign to Lloyd D. Levenson, a seasoned legal connoisseur with Cooper Levenson, entrusted with championing Evolution’s monumental project. With the same ardor that has fueled his support for Atlantic City’s gaming sphere and lit the intellectual halls of Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality, and Tourism (LIGHT), Levenson stepped forth, detailing to CRDA officials the poised expansion of Evolution’s workforce. Within the constraints of current accommodations, some 850 employees drive the enterprise—yet, with this digital colosseum, their ranks could swell to an astounding 2,000 by the close of 2029.
Let it not be overlooked: New Jersey’s beating heart of online gaming pulses to a rhythm set by the ironclad decree that live dealer sorcery be weaved within Atlantic City’s borders. This protective spell was cast to keep the shoreline’s economic heartbeats tethered to its trade of chance.
Away from these sandy grandstands, the wider tableau of American iGaming only deepens the intrigue, as New Jersey joins a select ensemble of seven states where the digital dice roll free. Amid these varied realms—from the rolling hills of Connecticut and Delaware to the vibrant vistas of Michigan, Pennsylvania’s classic expanse, Rhode Island’s coastal echo, and the rugged heart of West Virginia—online gaming finds its myriad homes.
It was within the crucible of the pandemic that New Jersey’s iGaming revenues soared to unprecedented heights, a buoyant vessel amidst stormy seas. Revenues have only climbed since their 2013 launch, accumulating over $7 billion, with fountains of fortune gushing forth more recently. From the $482.7 million GGR totted up in 2019, numbers vaulted to $970.2 million the following year, as casinos closed their lavish doors, allowing iGaming to fill the chasms of entertainment. 2021 saw online gamblers shed $1.36 billion, growing 41%, before ascending 22% in 2022 to $1.66 billion, and leaping another 16% to $1.92 billion the next. Through the blossoming spring of 2024, iGaming is up yet another 21%.
These bountiful digital harvests, taxed 15%, poured approximately $288.5 million into New Jersey’s coffers last year alone. This explosion of online gaming revenue, blooming 300% since 2019, has vastly outpaced the modest growth of 6% from traditional casino slot machines and gaming tables within Atlantic City’s palatial gambling citadels.
Standing at the edge of such a precipice of change, one can hardly ignore the electric scent of transformation as Evolution’s ambitious visions hover, ready to encode Atlantic City’s legacy in the annals of digital gaming history.
