PA Gaming Control Board Announces Suitability Hearing Dates For Philadelphia Casino Applicants

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today announced that public hearings to determine the eligibility and suitability of the six applicants vying for the remaining Category 2 license to operate a casino in the City of Philadelphia will be held January 28, 29, and 30, 2014.

The six hearings will begin each day at 9:00 a.m. and be held in Room 114 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The order of appearance before the Board will be determined at a later date.

A Category 2 stand-alone license enables the casino operator to have up to 5,000 slot machines and 250 table games. Applicants, along with the stated location of the casino, are:

Tower Entertainment, LLC (The Provence) at 400 North Broad Street
Market East Associates (Casino Philadelphia)at 8th and Market Street
Wynn PA, Inc. (Wynn Philadelphia) at 2001 Beach Street, and 2001 through 2005 Richmond Street
PHL Local Gaming, LLC (Casino Revolution) at 3333 South Front Street
PA Gaming Ventures, LLC (Hollywood Casino Philadelphia) at 700 Packer Avenue
Stadium Casino, LLC (Live! Hotel and Casino) at 900 Packer Avenue

The hearings will provide the Board with an opportunity to hear directly from the applicants on their eligibility for a Category 2 license, suitability to gain licensure, and why their project is better than the other applicants.

At the hearing, the Board members will also question applicants about their operational and financial suitability, diversity plans, community impact, plans for the prevention of compulsive gaming and other issues. That information will become part of the evidentiary record as will information gathered by the PGCB's Bureaus of Investigations and Enforcement and Licensing, along with input gathered earlier through public input hearings in Philadelphia written comments from the public and elected officials.

Once the evidentiary record is closed, the Board can consider an award of this Category 2 license

The Board also announced that the deadline to receive written comment on the six projects has been extended from September 30, 2013 to November 29, 2013.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board:
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 30 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry. The 12 casinos in operation all offer both slot machine and table game gambling, employ over 16,000 people, and collectively generate an average of $4 million per day in tax revenue. A portion of that money is used for property tax reduction to all Pennsylvania homeowners; provide funds to the Commonwealth's horse racing industry, fire companies, a statewide water and sewer project grant program, and the state's General Fund; and, established a new stream of tax revenue to local governments that host casinos for community projects.

A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board's regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. At this website, visitors can watch Board meetings live or view videos of past meetings, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information. You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl.

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