- Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia is scheduled to open its casino doors in late 2020, though online sports betting is estimated to open sooner.
- Cordish Gaming Group is also asking regulators to grant a casino license to their satellite location in Westmoreland County.
- There are already five online sports betting apps in Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA – Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia, the long-awaited gaming venue in the city’s stadium district, has now officially been granted a sports betting license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).
The casino will be the second to open in Philadelphia and completion of the project is estimated to be by the end of 2020. Once the venue is ready to open its doors it will have 2,000 slot machines, 125 table games, and 240 hotel rooms for guests to stay in.
However, an online sportsbook from this venue could be operating within the coming months.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, “The gaming board sided with the casino’s owner, Cordish Gaming Group of Baltimore, which argued that the 2017 law legalizing sports betting did not prohibit a casino from launching online before it’s brick-and-mortar facility operating.”
Getting an early movers’ advantage to online sports betting in Pennsylvania will be crucial for Live! Hotel and Casino.
There are currently 11 land-based sportsbooks in PA. But, the market for mobile sports betting apps in PA has been growing ever since the first app, PlaySugarHouse, was launched by Sugar House Casino in late May. There are now five mobile sports wagering platforms in the state and counting.
Mobile betting has quickly become the preferred form of betting on sports for PA residents. According to a recent press release by the PGCB, sports wagering revenue for PA casinos rose 144% from August to September, with roughly two-thirds of that revenue coming from online sports betting.
Cordish Gaming Group (CGG) is looking to get a piece of the pie in 2020 in every way possible, including opening a mini-casino with a sportsbook at their newly acquired property in Westmoreland County. CGG won the bid for the location last year by agreeing to pay the state $40.1 million for the mini-casino license.
However, the PGCB is arguing that the $10 million license fee required to operate sports wagering applies to each individual gaming facility.
CGG countered that argument by claiming that racetrack casinos are able to operate legal sports betting (* https://www.legalsportsbetting.com/ *) at their satellite locations under one license. An example of this would be Parx Casino in Bensalem, which also operates sports wagering at its South Philadelphia Turf Club location.
The PCGB will meet again on November 20. In the meantime, Cordish Gaming Group will work to finalize a deal with a sports betting provider.
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News tags: Cordish Gaming Group | Live! Hotel Casino | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board | Philadelphia
– In his career, Hasan has worked both local and state government positions—including the Attorney General’s Office in Florida. On top of being familiar with the legislative process, he has also been researching and writing on the legality of sports betting across the US. Outside of work you’ll most likely find him producing or playing music, playing sports, or working on creative writing projects. You’ll also catch him at Doak Campbell Stadium cheering on the Noles.
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