Bills in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate propose deregulating a restriction on casino and sport franchise owners.  

Bill A5463 "permits owner of 10% or more of member team of sports governing body to place or accept wagers on certain sports events in which other member teams participate."

Tilman Fertitta, Founder of Landry’s Restaurants and worth $5.1bn according to Forbes, owns both the Golden Nugget casino and the NBA’s Houston Rockets.

Golden Nugget and its online partner, BetAmerica, are the only operators to be affected by this proposed change to legislation. The change would allow them to accept bets on all NBA games not involving the Rockets.

Reports suggest the original, complete restriction prompted SugarHouse sportsbook to leave Golden Nugget and move to Monmouth Park for its online operations.

With bets on the NBA unavailable at Golden Nugget, the casino has seen comparatively low results at its sportsbook.

The operator generated less than $30,000 in sports betting revenue last month; its year-to-date revenue totals less than $163,000. For context, New Jersey sportsbooks made $15.5m in gross revenue for May alone.

Golden Nugget also led the online casino market for May, accumulating $14m in internet gaming win – a 64% rise year-on-year – demonstrating its ability to compete in other areas.