New Jersey is home to three horse racing tracks. Monmouth Park is known for hosting a few high-profile major graded stakes races each year such as the Haskell Invitational during the summer schedule of live racing.
The Meadowlands Racetrack is part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford. Known as the Big M, it offers live cards for both thoroughbred and harness racing throughout the year.
The third racing facility is Freehold Raceway. Located in the historic town of the same name, this track also features harness racing through a regular schedule of live cards.
The one thing they all have in common is land-based sportsbooks to go along with their existing racebook offerings. With the help of PlayUp, Freehold will join the other two in-state tracks in offering mobile sports betting.
Freehold Raceway is affiliated with Parx Casino as the biggest gaming entity in Pennsylvania. Matthew Cullen is the senior vice president of interactive gaming and sports for Parx. He was thrilled at the prospect of working with PlayUp as a way to bring mobile sports betting to the New Jersey track.
Based in Australia, PlayUp continues its expansion into the legal US sports betting industry. Its first venture in this market was in Colorado. The company has established a strong presence back home in Australia and New Zealand as well as in India.
Dr. Laila Mintas is the CEO of PlayUp USA. The company’s plans to offer mobile betting through Freehold Raceway call for a launch sometime during the first quarter of this year. The track first launched sports betting at its land-based facility this previous October.
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Since the launch of sports betting at the track, the total betting handle topped $290,000. In comparison, the Meadowlands posted a sports betting handle of $206 million in 2020. This track’s online betting partner is FanDuel.
Along with the strategic partnership with Freehold Raceway, PlayUp also announced a new marketing agreement with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. This gives the company exclusive access to various promotional vehicles that can be used to promote its mobile betting capabilities.
The biggest perk in this deal is the PlayUp Sports Lounge in Prudential Center as the team’s home arena. Dr. Mintas released the following statement concerning this new partnership:
“We are thrilled to partner with the New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center for our first-ever US sports team partnership. “Our Mobile Sports Betting app will be live in the Garden State soon, so engaging New Jersey sports fans is extremely important to us.”
He went on to add:
“This unique, digital-focused partnership provides PlayUp with several opportunities to connect with New Jersey Devils fans. We have been impressed with the off-season success of the team’s innovative content and we could not be happier to join them as we enter this historic season.”
PlayUp received approval for its New Jersey gaming license on Jan. 12 and it has not wasted any time making the most of the opportunity. Establishing a US base in the country’s biggest sports betting market should open the door for further expansion in the coming months.
