In recent years, Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the hottest gambling markets in the United States. The heat is set to be turned up next year, with a second Philadelphia-area casino license to be handed out.
Applicants should know by April of 2014 if they have won approval by Pennsylvania gaming regulators, says the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which is reporting that officials plan to make their final decision in March or April of next year.
Review to be held after the new year
In January, public hearings will be held with regard to the new Philadelphia casino.
Six different companies are competing for the lone operating license – Wynn Resorts, Stadium Casino LLC, Market East Associates, PA Gaming Ventures LLC, Tower Entertainment LLC, and PHL Local Gaming LLC.
According to Bill Lerner of Union Gaming Research in Nevada, “The hearings will give applicants a chance to present to the board and make their case for why they should be awarded the license. It is possible losing bidders could appeal the board’s decision to the state Supreme Court, which could take roughly six months.”
Wynn an early favorite in Philly casino competition
The most talked about applicant for the newest Philadelphia casino license is, naturally, Wynn Resorts. Wynn plans to build a bronze curtain glass tower that has become the company’s signature.
If approved, the waterfront resort in Philadelphia would closely resemble Wynn’s sprawling complex in the Asian gaming capitol of Macau. The design will also be employed should the company be awarded a casino license by Massachusetts regulators, who also will be making a decision in 2014 with regard to one Boston-area license that is being issued.
Wynn believes that their resort has the potential to change the game in Pennsylvania, luring in tourists, revenue, conventions, and guests vying to stay at their world-class resort. Such a possibility likely has officials in New Jersey on the edge of their seats.
Currently one other casino in Philadelphia
Although Philadelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. city, currently only boasts one land-based casino property, the SugarHouse Casino, the presence of the SugarHouse has managed to further depress the already struggling Atlantic City gambling economy.
SugarHouse opened in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia back in 2010, and occupies a building that once served as – you guessed it – a sugar refining facility.
Philadelphia, only about an hour’s drive away from the once-glittering gambling mecca of New Jersey, has proven to be an attractive option for gamblers in the area seeking newer facilities and amenities.
Pennsylvania’s assent to become the second-largest gambling market in the United States behind Las Vegas has been extremely detrimental to Atlantic City, which has seen its gambling revenue decline annually for six consecutive years after peaking in 2006.
Competition has been impetus for move toward online offerings
The pressure that New Jersey has felt as its casinos struggle to compete with those in neighboring states has been a motivating factor in the state’s move to regulate online gambling.
Last February, New Jersey became the third state in the U.S. to pass a law regulating some type of Internet-based betting. When first-term Republican Governor and likely 2016 presidential candidate Chris Christie signed the state’s iGaming bill into law, he did so, he said, in part to inject a new stream of revenue into the ailing Atlantic City economy.
In New Jersey, residents will have access to a wide variety of betting options when real-money sites go live later on this fall. Sites are expected to launch in New Jersey by the end of November.