HARRISBURG – Three casinos have now applied to offer sports betting in Pennsylvania, but none have yet been approved to do so.
Harrah’s Philadelphia applied to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board this week, following Penn National in Grantville and Parx Casino in Bensalem.
The Gaming Control Board is due to consider the petitions from Penn National and Parx Casino at a meeting Wednesday. Penn National filed its application on Aug. 17. The Parx application was filed Aug. 24.
Under temporary rules approved by the gaming board in August, the casinos will be able to offer sports betting online or in person at the casinos.
The rules require casinos to use technology to ensure that online bets are only being made from within Pennsylvania’s state borders, according to draft regulations posted in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The rules will allow betting on collegiate, professional and international sports, including soccer and Olympic games.
How quickly any of the applicants get games up and running is still not clear.
Penn National was the first casino to indicate its intent to offer sports betting.
Eric Schippers, a Penn National spokesman, said Wednesday that the casino is aiming to have sports betting in place “within the next month or so.”
Schippers said the exact timing will in part be dictated by how quickly state regulators give the final approval.
Penn National plans to have a sports-wagering area in the casino, along with an online sportsbook.
State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver, the lawmaker in Harrisburg who championed the idea of legalizing sports betting in this state, said Wednesday he’s been disappointed at the state’s slow rollout of sports betting.
“I was hoping we’d be ready for the start of the NFL season. Obviously that didn’t happen,” he said.
“The answer we’ve always gotten from the Gaming Control Board is that they want to get it right.”
He said he thinks that once the first three applications are approved, they will be followed by others.
Churchhill Downs, the owners of the Kentucky Derby, is in the process of acquiring Presque Isle Downs in Erie and will likely look to add sports gambling, he said.
“I think it’s going to have a domino effect,” he said.
Doug Harbach, a gaming control board spokesman, said he “cannot put a time frame” on how long it will take for regulators to give the go-ahead to launch sports betting here. Harbach said the only firm deadline facing the Gaming Control Board is that the applications must be approved within four months.
Harbach said more information about the rollout of sports wagering will probably be provided at Wednesday’s Gaming Control Board meeting.
No bets will be taken until each casino offering sports wagering first pays a $10 million fee, he said.
Pennsylvania is positioned to allow sports betting thanks to the state’s 2017 gaming expansion bill, which included a provision to allow sports wagering if the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could legally do so.
A May Supreme Court decision in a case brought by New Jersey opened that door.
Since then, three states
– West Virginia, Delaware, and Mississippi – have joined New Jersey and Nevada in offering legal sports betting.
Pennsylvania is one of three other states where sports betting has been legalized but isn’t operating. The others are New York and Rhode Island, according to ESPN.
In nearby states with sports betting, gamblers have already bet millions of dollars. Delaware started its sports betting in June. Since then, there have been $22 million in sports wagers placed there, state records show.
In New Jersey, gamblers placed $95 million in sports wagers in August, alone, according to state records.
http://www.tribdem.com/news/three-c...cle_10dd3a72-c1ff-11e8-99c7-43357605bfa3.html
Harrah’s Philadelphia applied to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board this week, following Penn National in Grantville and Parx Casino in Bensalem.
The Gaming Control Board is due to consider the petitions from Penn National and Parx Casino at a meeting Wednesday. Penn National filed its application on Aug. 17. The Parx application was filed Aug. 24.
Under temporary rules approved by the gaming board in August, the casinos will be able to offer sports betting online or in person at the casinos.
The rules require casinos to use technology to ensure that online bets are only being made from within Pennsylvania’s state borders, according to draft regulations posted in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The rules will allow betting on collegiate, professional and international sports, including soccer and Olympic games.
How quickly any of the applicants get games up and running is still not clear.
Penn National was the first casino to indicate its intent to offer sports betting.
Eric Schippers, a Penn National spokesman, said Wednesday that the casino is aiming to have sports betting in place “within the next month or so.”
Schippers said the exact timing will in part be dictated by how quickly state regulators give the final approval.
Penn National plans to have a sports-wagering area in the casino, along with an online sportsbook.
State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver, the lawmaker in Harrisburg who championed the idea of legalizing sports betting in this state, said Wednesday he’s been disappointed at the state’s slow rollout of sports betting.
“I was hoping we’d be ready for the start of the NFL season. Obviously that didn’t happen,” he said.
“The answer we’ve always gotten from the Gaming Control Board is that they want to get it right.”
He said he thinks that once the first three applications are approved, they will be followed by others.
Churchhill Downs, the owners of the Kentucky Derby, is in the process of acquiring Presque Isle Downs in Erie and will likely look to add sports gambling, he said.
“I think it’s going to have a domino effect,” he said.
Doug Harbach, a gaming control board spokesman, said he “cannot put a time frame” on how long it will take for regulators to give the go-ahead to launch sports betting here. Harbach said the only firm deadline facing the Gaming Control Board is that the applications must be approved within four months.
Harbach said more information about the rollout of sports wagering will probably be provided at Wednesday’s Gaming Control Board meeting.
No bets will be taken until each casino offering sports wagering first pays a $10 million fee, he said.
Pennsylvania is positioned to allow sports betting thanks to the state’s 2017 gaming expansion bill, which included a provision to allow sports wagering if the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could legally do so.
A May Supreme Court decision in a case brought by New Jersey opened that door.
Since then, three states
– West Virginia, Delaware, and Mississippi – have joined New Jersey and Nevada in offering legal sports betting.
Pennsylvania is one of three other states where sports betting has been legalized but isn’t operating. The others are New York and Rhode Island, according to ESPN.
In nearby states with sports betting, gamblers have already bet millions of dollars. Delaware started its sports betting in June. Since then, there have been $22 million in sports wagers placed there, state records show.
In New Jersey, gamblers placed $95 million in sports wagers in August, alone, according to state records.
http://www.tribdem.com/news/three-c...cle_10dd3a72-c1ff-11e8-99c7-43357605bfa3.html
