Gaming Control Board To Hold Category 4 Casino Auction On September 2, 2020

HARRISBURG, PA:  The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced today that it will conduct an auction for a Category 4 slot machine license on September 2, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. prior to its regular Board meeting.

The new auction will be held to carry out provisions in Act 23 of 2020 which directed the Board to conduct one auction for the Category 4 slot machine license previously applied for by Mount Airy Casino Resorts, but which was subsequently denied.

Entities eligible to participate in the auction are any Pennsylvania slot machine licensee as well as a person with an ownership interest in a slot machine license.

At the auction, the bidders must submit a Category 4 reserved location, which will be a fixed coordinate (center point) surrounded by a 15-mile radius, resulting in a 30-mile circle. The geographic center point must be part of the bid submitted at the auction.  Additionally, the reserve location circle may not be located within 40 linear miles any existing or planned Category 1, 2, 3 or 4 licensed facility or a previously established Category 4 reserve location.

Additional details on the Category 4 auction process will be posted on the Board’s website in the near future.

The next meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, August 5, 2020. The Board will announce prior to that date whether the meeting will be held telephonically or in the PGCB’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of the Strawberry Square Complex in Harrisburg.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of gambling legalized under 2004’s Race Horse Development and Gaming Act and the Gaming Expansion Act of 2017. In addition to slot machine and table games gambling at land-based casinos, the expansion includes online casino games available to date on nine sites; sports wagering offered through sportsbooks at 13 retail locations and through nine online outlets; video gaming terminals (VGTs) offered as of this date at 28 qualified truck stops; and, fantasy sports contests through eight providers.

The mature land-based casino industry in Pennsylvania currently consists of 10 stand-alone and racetrack casinos in operation, along with the two smaller resort casinos.  These facilities collectively employ over 16,000 people and, along with other types of Board-regulated gaming, annually generate over $1.5 billion in tax revenue. Construction of a 13th casino is currently underway along with a number of new “mini-casinos” that are expected to begin operation over the next couple of years.

Additional information about both the PGCB’s gaming regulatory efforts and Pennsylvania’s gaming industry can be found at https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/ . You can also follow the agency on Twitter by choosing @PAGamingControl .