Kambi Group plc is now deep-seated in New York after getting a deal last week with Seneca Gaming Corp. Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino is one of three Seneca Gaming Corp. casinos, scheduled to get a sportsbook operated by Kambi Group plc. The European-based company will now manage the brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo, and Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino in Salamanca.
Kambi has failed to reveal the length of the arrangement by only calling it a “long-term partnership.” Kambi’s chief commercial officer reported to Casino.org that he could not be more specific yet as far as a target date. He said that they have achieved an impressive series of market first with their partners in the US, including in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Earlier this year at the Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, Kambi started serving as the processor for Rush Street Gaming and processed New York’s first sports bet and also offering retail sports betting. In near future, Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, another tribal casino in the state, plans to launch a retail sportsbook.
Statewide mobile betting will also be part of the deal once it’s legalized in New York. Attempts by the state legislature to resolve the matter have not been fruitful and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing for voters to decide the issue by referendum. Nonetheless, Meltzer believes it’s simply a matter of time before that happens and that Kambi will be ready to go when it does. He added that the interest and engagement were clearly there because so many people from New York were currently travelling over the New Jersey border to place their bets.
Kambi is the service provider for Rivers and Draftkings, which operates del Lago’s sportsbook. With Seneca Gaming, Kambi now has connections with three of New York’s seven sports betting operators – both tribal and state-licensed. Nevertheless, Meltzer reported that the number of relationships Kambi needed to have in place in order to compete for customers once New York opened the door to online apps did not matter; what was important was having the right partners and the scalability to deliver.
Kambi established a partnership with Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment to offer both online and retail sportsbook operations for the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. The deal with Seneca is the second major tribal deal Kambi has reached this year. Meltzer said that they were partner operators who can be trusted to deliver, and they looked forward to building on that progress in the coming months.
