There’s a new player in the New Jersey iGaming market – the California-based Pala Band of Mission Indians. They’ll be operating under the Pala Interactive brand and will partner up with Borgata – although they won’t be on the Party Borgata network. This is exciting news seeing as how the Pala Band is the first Indian tribe involved with New Jersey online gaming. Unfortunately, it’s hard to envision them having much success in the market, and here are three reasons why.
1. Pala Interactive are a Virtual Unknown
Had they waited until California legalizes iGaming (presumably next year), the Pala Band of Mission Indians might have had some sort of name recognition. However, they are competing in a totally new market across the country. So few recreational players in New Jersey are going to recognize the Pala Interactive brand. Furthermore, it will take a major marketing effort to make Garden State players aware of Pala.
2. They are already behind the New Jersey curve
New Jersey iGaming opened up in late 2013, meaning some of the sites have already been offering services for a year. So they’ve had time to advertise themselves, work through software issues, try out different promotions and, most importantly, develop a player base. Pala Interactive is basically starting from scratch and they’ll be going up against better-established competitors. When coupled with their lack of recognition in the Garden State, this definitely isn’t a good thing.
3. Jim Ryan is the Pala Interactive’s CEO
On a smaller scale, Jim Ryan’s involvement with Pala Interactive doesn’t exactly scream reputability. Ryan is a knowledgeable and experienced guy in the online gaming field, having served as Party Poker’s CEO. But before that, he was the head of Exscapa, parent company of the now-defunct and disgraced UB Poker. While Ryan was CEO of UB, a hole card scandal broke out, where high stakes players were cheated out of over $20 million. Unlike Russ Hamilton, it’s believed that Ryan had no involvement with the scandal nor did he try to cover it up. However, it still doesn’t bode well for his reputation, so it’s definitely not a plus for Pala.
Looking at everything from an overall perspective, Pala Interactive has some work to do regarding their new place in New Jersey iGaming. Ultimate Poker already bombed out of the Garden State because they never got their name established. So Pala will work to avoid the same fate as they compete against five other operators.