There are many cities in the United States that love sports, and Philadelphia is up there with the keenest of them. In fact, an end-of-the-year list a couple of years ago placed Philadelphia at #6 in terms of “top sports cities” in America, behind much larger cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
Sports fans in Philadelphia now have a lot to be thankful for in the new year, as Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment’s Parx Casino plans on its sports-betting soft launch in Bensalem. The launch will begin on January 10th, and after the 48-hour soft-launch period, will go live at 1 PM on Thursday, January 10th, assuming that all goes well.
About Parx
Parx is no small player to the area, as Parks Casino and Racing (formerly known as Philadelphia Park Track and Casino) is actually the state’s largest casino gaming complex and horse racing venue. It is home to two of Pennsylvania’s elite Thoroughbred races, as well.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that Parx is considering expansion, considering it ended 2018 as the highest-grossing casino in terms of slot machine revenue, and second in terms of table revenue.
Staying In The Game
Parx is following the lead of other casinos that have already launched their sports betting operations. Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course led the way with the first sports betting operation in the state, and is already producing a substantial amount of revenue. Two other sportsbooks have launched at the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia, and the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh.
The sportsbook will temporarily be housed in a former lounge of the casino, and a permanent sportsbook will only launch later in the year. The lounge, now closed, used to be called “Parx 360”. Parx also plans on rolling out a mobile app in conjunction with its sportsbook operations, entitled Betslip Builder, meant to streamline the process and reduce wait times.
The senior vice president of Parx Casino, Matthew Cullen, stated in an interview:
I’d expect that building up scale in a populous state like Pennsylvania will be a proof point for other state legislatures to enact laws regulating online gaming and sports betting and providing those states with new forms of taxable revenues.”
