Pennsylvania approves casino amid local gaming industry concerns
By Daniel Kelley PENNSYLVANIA (Reuters) - Pennsylvania regulators on Tuesday approved a new casino license in Philadelphia, where a rival has voiced concerns about a saturated local gaming market an hour from the troubled gambling destination, Atlantic City. The project, Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia, is expected to cost $450 million, hold 2,000 slot machines and house a 240-room hotel near the city's popular sports stadiums, and is scheduled to open in 2016, casino officials said. Live! beat out three other applications for the casino license with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. There are 12 casinos operating in the state, including one in Philadelphia, licensed by the board since casinos were legalized in Pennsylvania in 2004, spokesman Doug Hardback said. But Live! is not certain to open its doors. The other three applicants, as well as SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia, could appeal, Hardback said. SugarHouse has opposed the issuance of a new license in Philadelphia, arguing that the market is saturated. But Tony Ricci, chief executive officer of Parx Casino in the Philadelphia suburbs, whose parent company, Greenwood Gaming, is a partner in Live!, said: "We are 100 percent confident that there is room to grow." Ricci said the project could take clients away from Atlantic City casinos. Atlantic City, which once held a lucrative gambling monopoly on the East Coast, has seen gaming revenue fall to $2.8 billion in 2013 from $5.2 billion in 2006 amid competition from casinos in neighboring states, according to the New Jersey division of gaming enforcement statistics. Four Atlantic City casinos have closed this year. Israel Posner, a gaming expert from Richard Stockton College outside Atlantic City, said new “convenience casinos” located in densely populated areas are on the rise. While a new casino in Philadelphia could have some impact on Atlantic City, the town is much more reliant on travelers from farther away, he said. (Editing by Laila Kearney and Mohammad Zargham)
