Hoop Dreams: ‘Historic Basketball’ Games Head to New Jersey

Historic NBA hoops are coming to online casinos in New Jersey.

For bettors who are also basketball fans, a new game heading to New Jersey casinos should be a slam dunk.

NBA Last 60 takes clips from actual pro basketball games and puts them together to create a whole new match—or at least, the last minute of it. Offered by U.K.-based Highlight Games and Spin Games, NBA Last 60 replaces a 90-second version of the game; in testing, the shorter version proved quicker-paced and more engaging.

Spin Games, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, is providing free and real-money versions of the game through its ROC Remote Gaming Server (RGS) platform. Four online casinos will offer it, including Virgin, Tropicana, Golden Nugget and Resorts, pending approvals from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Spin Games CEO Kent Young told GGB News the game is “a different category of product, actually a first in terms of using historical sports footage. We think it will appeal to both sports betting and casino players—probably skewing on the side of the sports bettors, but applicable to both.”

The virtual sports betting game should be available in the Garden State by the end of March, he added.

Here’s how it works. Players choose two opposing teams, then make up to four wagers, such as which team will win, which will score first, or which will score the first three-pointer. After they place their bets, a random number generator chooses an offensive or defensive clip of those particular teams, always chosen from the last 60 seconds of a real game.

With thousands of clips to choose from and millions of possible combinations, it would be virtually impossible to determine the outcome, Young said—all of which makes for an exciting, suspense-filled game.

The NBA has opened its game vault to game developer Highlight Gaming, which generally pulls video clips from the last three or four seasons. Conceivably, players could see the late Kobe Bryant play again, along with current greats like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Joel Embiid and many others.

Previously, historic sports in the U.S. have been limited to horse racing and dog racing, or virtual sports played by animated figures. Young predicts that NBA Last 60 could launch a trend that brings more professional-league sports to the iGaming arena. Even so, he said basketball—a fast-paced game even novices can easily follow—may be ideally suited for the format.

“Basketball ball is a very good fit. It’s fast-moving and the scores change rapidly. One second you think one team’s going to win, then it’s the other.

“We’re optimistic about the game,” said Young. “Obviously the NBA brand is extremely powerful, and fans definitely have an emotional attachment toward their teams, teams they’ve been rooting for years. So I think this has a lot more appeal than traditional horse races or greyhounds. The other part is that it’s on-demand. Players don’t have to wait for a particular game.”

Only time will tell how NBA Last 60, and the whole concept of historic sports betting, goes over among sports fans and online casino patrons who are unfamiliar with the genre. But Young has high hopes. “We think it will do very well in the market,” he said.