Nine casinos apply for Penn online licences
State leader Parx Casino has teamed up with gaming services provider GAN after becoming one of nine properties to apply for an online licence in Pennsylvania.
Casino licence holders had been set a deadline of yesterday (Monday) to submit their petition with Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) as the state prepares to launch a regulated service. The Pennsylvanian regulated Internet gaming market is forecast to generate $200m in gross gaming revenue online during the first twelve months of operation.
Incidentally, all operators that put forward an application only did so in the days leading up to the cut-off date or on the deadline itself.
Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, operator of the Parx Casino, which generated $570m last year, was the first to register its application with the PGCB on July 12.
Parx has already teamed up with GAN, having signed a partnership to offer Simulated Gaming in 2015.
Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GAN, said: “Parx Casino and GAN have collaborated well for three years, developing a close working relationship by operating Simulated Gaming online. Launching regulated real money Internet gaming in Pennsylvania is a logical extension of our existing long-term relationship and we welcome the opportunity to deliver excellence in technology and product, as we have for our clients in New Jersey.”
Stadium Casino, which will run the new Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia, and Mount Airy Casino Resort operator Mount Airy #1 lodged their petitions on July 13.
Sands Bethworks Gaming (Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem), Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association (Hollywood Casino), Valley Forge Convention Center Partners (Valley Forge Casino Resort), Chester Downs and Marina (Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack), Holdings Acquisition Co. (Rivers Casino) and Sugarhouse HSP Gaming (SugarHouse Casino) filed applications on deadline day.
Should the licence gain approval, each applicant will be able to offer non-peer-to-peer interactive games in the form of slot machines and table games, as well as peer-to-peer interactive poker games.
These combined licences will set each of the nine operators back $10m (€8.6m), while other companies wanting to offer online gaming can now lodge a petition to conduct all three or some of the categories of games will face a licence fee of $4m.
Despite Pennsylvania moving forward with its online gambling plans, having announced the move to legalise the sector in October last year, there is still a lack of interest in sports betting in the state.
Last year, the state passed a sports betting law prior to the Supreme Court’s on PASPA in May this year.
However, Pennsylvania has yet to receive any applications for a licence, with many in the industry citing high tax rates as the main reason behind this.
Operator wanting to offer sports betting in the state would face a licence fee of $10m, in addition to a tax rate of 36%.
The state did earlier this year also legalise daily fantasy sports and has received a number of applications from various operators, including FanDuel and DraftKings.
Image: Parx Casino/Instagram