The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) on October 3 approved Penn National and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment to provide sports betting via their casinos in that state of Pennsylvania. It is hoped that the sportsbooks will be up and running by November.
Penn National owns Hollywood Casino and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment owns Parx Casino and the South Philadelphia Turf Club—all of which got their licenses approved at the recent hearing.
The South Philadelphia Turf Club is not expected to offer sports betting immediately as the Office of Enforcement Council stated that the South Philadelphia Turf Club use Parx Casino’s success as benchmark as to whether they should launch sports betting to their customers.
Additional casinos in Pennsylvania; Harrah’s Casino, SugarHouse Casino and Rivers Casino are still waiting on the green light from the PGCB as to whether their sports betting licenses have been approved or not.
Hollywood Casino To Open “Within The Next Few Months”
“Mobile sports betting, we think, is very important,” said John Finamore, senior vice president of regional operations for Penn National, who operates Hollywood Casino at the recent hearing. It is “something we want to offer as soon as possible,” he went on to say.
Hollywood Casino will be first focusing on its retail offering, with self-service kiosks on the casino floor. The casino will be working with European sportsbook giant William Hill to bring the brand to life for players in Pennsylvania, as William Hill already has a foothold in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware amongst other states, where sports betting is already live.
“We’re excited to get this new amenity to our customers. There’s been a lot of awareness at our property and a lot of questions from our guests. … It’s a product they’re very interested in and excited about,” Finamore continued to say.
Hollywood Casino’s general manager Dan Ihm echoed Finamore’s comments saying that Hollywood Casino sportsbook would open “within the next few months” making it look hopeful that sports betting could go live as soon as November 2018.
The sports betting license costs $10 million and in total, thirteen licenses are available, one for each casino in the state of Pennsylvania.
What About Parx Casino?
Parx Casino hopes to be able to offer a sportsbook on the casino floor by November.
The casino is already in the process of building a separate, bespoke sportsbook which is slated to open in the second quarter of 2019. Mobile sports betting has a tentative launch date of January 2019.
Casinos To Offer Online Poker & Other Table Games in PA?
Hollywood Casino and Parx Casino are also planning to bring online poker, slots and table games to their customers thanks to the purchasing of Interactive Gaming Certificates, which may well coincide with their mobile sports betting apps going live.
The PGCB approved the certificates for Hollywood Casino and Parx Casino along with Harrah’s Casino Philadelphia, Mount Airy and SugarHouse Casino over the summer.
The Interactive Gaming Certificates will allow the casinos to partner with online gaming operators, such as what we have seen between PokerStars and Mount Airy to bring online gaming to the state.
