Cordish Companies Pays $10 Million For Second Betting License in PA
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board or PGCB has allowed Cordish companies to buy a second sports betting permit. This Baltimore-based hospitality and casino organization acquired the first sportsbook right back in October 2019 for $10 million. Moreover, the company owns as well as operates Live! Casinos in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Moreover, it has launched Live! Casino Pittsburgh outside Steel City, which is located in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. The company set up this casino in November last year. The satellite location is a Category 4 operation that includes up to 750 slot machines, one sportsbook, and 30 table games.
Additionally, Cordish companies also established Live! Casino Hotel Philadelphia in January this year. It is a bigger, full-scale category two casino resort. The retail sportsbook at both locations is operated by FanDuel.
Category Expansion By the Casino
In 2017 Pennsylvania legalized sports betting as well as the Category 4 satellite casinos under its Expanded Gaming Act. In the state, Category 1 casinos are gaming venues at Pennsylvania’s horse race tracks.
The legalization of 2017 permits such properties to buy one sport betting license worth $10 million that can be set up at the Category 1 venues and Category 4 satellites. It is also a valuable license for casinos to collaborate with iGaming operators and sportsbooks at both locations. Additionally, the mobile partner does not have to be the same body.
Category 1 Casinos
Under Category 1, there are six casinos that include:
- Harrah’s Philadelphia
- Hollywood Casino located at Penn National Race Course
- Mohegan Sun Pocono
- Presque Isle Downs
- Parx Casino
- The Meadows Racetrack and Casino
Category 2 Casinos
Category 2 casinos involve standalone resorts instead of horse racetracks. For such casinos, a license worth $10 million sports betting can be used for the primary casino and at its satellite. But this category of casino only allows one online gaming partner.
Cordish companies investing in a second sportsbook license enables the company to collaborate with another iGaming company. Additionally, all mobile sportsbooks and iGaming firms must be connected to the retail casino.
Unknown iGaming Partner For Cordish Companies
Cordish Companies is yet to reveal which iGaming platform it might collaborate with. The prominent online sportsbooks have already partnered with casinos that include FOX Bet, DraftKings, FanDuel, Barstool, Unibet, and BetMGM. Live! has made heavy investments in Pennsylvania. It has invested around $700 million on its casino resort in Philly and spent approximately $150 million on the satellite at Pittsburgh.
Furthermore, iGaming has also become a prominent aspect of the gaming industry of Pennsylvania. It is among the top five states with table games and online slots. Gross gaming revenue generated from interactive casino games between January and May was valued at $240.5 million.
Online gaming in the state is flourishing, but retail casinos have not returned to the levels that they were in pre-pandemic. Deutsche Bank published a note voicing its concern that due to COVID-19, there might have been a permanent migration of many gamblers to online casinos in Pennsylvania. This is not something that Cordish wants to hear post-opening to retail casinos worth $850 million.
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