Pennsylvania receives three last-minute online licence applications
Nine other casinos choose not to apply within 90-day window
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) received three applications for online gambling licences on Friday, just three days before the 90-day window for applications closes.
The three casinos who applied and paid the $10m application fee for all three licenced verticals were Parx Casino in Bensalem, Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono and the still under-construction Stadium Casino, located in South Philadelphia.
If successful in their applications the casinos would be able to offer online poker, online casino and online slots.
Online gaming company GAN will reportedly be the online gambling supplier for Parx, having previously launched free-play online gaming there in 2015. Mount Airy is expected to partner with 888.
None of the other nine land-based casinos operating in Pennsylvania have applied for licences.
Last month, the PGCB defended the lack of applications, with head of communications Doug Harbach telling EGR that “We are not concerned and would expect petitions to start coming in soon as casinos finalize partnerships.”
The Pennsylvania online gambling market has stuttered into life since Governor Tom Wolf first signed its regulation and legalisation into law last October and has been beset by the slow roll out of its regulatory regime and prohibitive taxes and licence fees.
Casinos can now apply for individual licences for each vertical at the cost of $4m per licence for another month, before unclaimed licences will be made available to outside operators.