Rivers Casino at Pittsburgh and SugarHouse Casino at Philadelphia to go live with Sport betting later today
Two more casinos are set to join Pennsylvania’s sports gambling mix in just a few hours and a month after Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course became the state’s first casino to go live with sports gambling.
News emerged on Wednesday the Rivers Casino at Pittsburgh and also SugarHouse Casino at Philadelphia will both open a two-day test period of their bodily sportsbooks later now. Such a test period is required under the state’s gaming law. If the test goes as planed on Thursday and Friday, both gaming venues are going to be able to go live with full sports gambling offering Saturday morning.
Both casinos, that are both owned by a subsidiary of Rush Street Gambling, were initially anticipated to start sports gambling on December 1. However, owners declared last month they would push back the start of gambling operations at both properties.
The countdown is here to introduce the NEW Rivers Sportsbook! Join us Thursday at 2pm for the introductory period of the FIRST Sportsbook in western PA! Our introductory period has restricted hours, is open to the public! Visit https://t.co/tTjbjDHkpq for specifics! pic.twitter.com/Z1ZwbXoAEV
— Rivers Casino (@WinBigRivers) December 12, 2018
The sportsbooks at both casinos are run by Malta-headquartered sports gambling pro Kambi Group. Parx Casino at Bensalem will, also, be taking advantage of the European business ’s experience in sports gambling.
Sports Betting License Fees Create $60 Million by October
With the launching of sport betting at Hollywood Casino, Pennsylvania became one of the country ’s eight states to go live with all the activity since the mid-May SCOTUS ruling that raised the longstanding PASPA ban.
According to a recent report by PlayPennsylvania.com, the nation amassed $60 million in gambling license software during October. It is yet to be seen how the state’s nascent gaming marketplace will perform.
Pennsylvania legalized sports gambling in the fall of 2017 within an omnibus gaming expansion bill. The piece of legislation allowed the state’s casinos to apply for sports gambling licenses and provide both in-person and cellular betting services. A sports gambling license goes with a $10 million price tag. In addition, legal gambling operations are taxed at 36 percent under the state’s gaming law.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board opened the licensing process shortly following the landmark SCOTUS ruling, however, it took several months before first applications were submitted. Analysts think that the licensing prices and the high tax rate made operators and other parties that are involved question the viability of Pennsylvania’s gambling market. However, with one operational sportsbook, two more launching in a couple of days, plus a fourth person expected to open shortly, things appear to have gradually begun falling into place for the state’s sports gambling industry.
Licensed casinos will initially operate retail gambling only.
Three of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states are already offering legal sports gambling, together with people being Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia. While Delaware and West Virginia have been away to a somewhat slower start, New Jersey’s legal sports gambling took off quite fast. The state declared Wednesday that its bodily sportsbook and gambling websites/mobile apps handled almost $1 billion in wagers involving mid-June and November 30. Half of the amount was put online.
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