Harrah’s Philadelphia becomes the fourth casino in the Philly area to go live with in-person sports betting
Caesars’ Harrah’s Philadelphia is set to go live with sports betting this Tuesday, January 22, right in time for the upcoming Super Bowl, which traditionally captures quite a lot of betting attention.
Harrah’s Philadelphia’s sportsbook will be the fourth retail betting facility in the Philly area and the sixth in Pennsylvania to become operational, following last year’s strikedown of a long-standing federal ban on wagering on sports. Mobile betting is expected to be rolled out in the state later this year.
The Chester-based casino will soft-launch its sportsbook at 2 pm on Tuesday. The facility will undergo a two-day testing period that will be overwatched by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. If everything goes according to plan, the sportsbook will celebrate its grand opening on Thursday.
Like Caesars’ Atlantic City wagering facilities, the Harrah’s Philadelphia sportsbook will be powered by SG Digital.
‘The Book’ at Harrah’s Philadelphia is located in a 4,322-square-foot performance venue in the back of the casino floor. The facility features 19 lounge seats, 11 high-top tables, 45 large television screens, bar seating and food and beverage options “tailored specifically for game day.”
The betting venue will operate from 11 am to 12 am Monday to Friday and from 10 am to 12 am on Saturdays and Sundays.
Betting Revenue Passes $2 Million in December
Pennsylvania legalized sports betting in the fall of 2017 as part of a comprehensive gambling expansion package. However, it was not before mid-November that the state went live with legal wagering on sporting events.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National opened the state’s first sportsbook in November, followed by SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh in December. According to the latest financial information released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the state’s first three sportsbooks generated revenue of $2,006,546 in December. In November, Hollywood Casino recorded wagering revenue of $508,996.60 during its first two weeks of operation. That brings the state’s overall betting revenue to more than $2.5 million since legal betting services commenced.
The three sportsbooks handled $16,173,090 in wagers in December, stats also showed. Given the fact that Pennsylvania’s sports betting market is still into its first weeks, it should be noted that it is hard to say what exactly the reported figures mean.
Parx Casino in Bensalem and the South Philadelphia Turf Club joined the Pennsylvania sports betting field on January 10 and January 17 with their own sportsbooks. Both properties are owned by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment.
The market is set to grow even more in the coming months as Valley Forge Turf Club is targeting March launch of its sports betting facility. That property, too, is owned by Greenwood. It also became known that Presque Isle Downs has applied for a betting license from the state’s Gaming Control Board. The regulator’s next meeting is to take place on February 6 and Presque Isle Downs’ management hopes that the casino’s application will be reviewed during that meeting. The property was recently acquired by Churchill Downs.
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