Pennsylvania sports betting unlikely to be live before middle of the NFL season
Gaming Control Board approves betting regulations but says it won’t be able to fully review applications before October
Pennsylvania sports betting is unlikely to be live before the middle of the NFL season despite the regulator approving a set of betting regulations yesterday.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) is not due to meet again until 12 September, six days after the start of the new NFL season, and regulators said it was unlikely they would be abe to fully review any sports betting application received now in time for that meeting.
The next scheduled meeting after that is October 3.
Gaming Control Board spokesman Doug Harbach said public protection was more important than rushing out regulations.
“There’s a week one of the football season,” her told Penn Live. “There’s a week four. There’s a week seven.”
“I would anticipate that this is going to be successful in Pennsylvania and that those who want to participate in sports wagering are going to immediately participate whatever week of a sports season that comes,” Harbach said.
Under the regulations published, bettors must have the ability to set personal betting limits and receive statements detailing all account activity.
Casinos are also required to share suspicious activity with the control board, affected leagues and other casinos.
In addition to approving the sports betting regulations, PGCB officials granted the first three Interactive Gaming Certificates to three casino license holders, including Chester Downs and Marina, LLC, which operates Harrah’s Philadelphia, Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, Inc., which operates Parx Casino and Mount Airy #1, LLC, operator of the Mount Airy Casino Resort, which recently partnered with PokerStars.
All three certificate holders can now operate online slots, table games and poker. A total of 11 applications for interactive gaming certificates have been received by PGCB regulators. However, as with sports betting no definitive date for the commencement of egaming services in the state has been set.