HARRISBURG — Stadium Casino, LLC was the high bidder at the second in a series of auctions in a process that establishes the order in which the winning bidders select a location for a Category 4 casino.
The auction was held today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Four bids were received in all, the PGCB says. Stadium Casino, LLC, which holds a Category 2 license and will build a casino in Philadelphia, made a bid of $40,100,005.
The center of the Category 4 location, which is an area 30 miles in diameter, chosen by Stadium Casino, LLC is located in Derry Township in Westmoreland County.
Stadium Casino, LLC is a joint venture between the Cordish Companies and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, which currently operates the Parx Casino in Bucks County.
Stadium Casino, LLC is required to pay the bid price to the Commonwealth within two business days, and then has up to six months to submit an application for the Category 4 Slot Machine License.
The application will contain the precise site of the proposed Category 4 casino, as well as detailed plans and information concerning the proposed building plan, amenities, employment projections and other related information.
Once the application is received and determined to be complete, the Board will post public information about the project on its website for interested persons to review.
A Category 4 Slot Machine License would permit the entity to operate between 300 and 750 slot machines. The entity could also petition for permission to initially operate up to 30 table games for an additional fee of $2.5 million with the capability of adding an additional 10 tables games after its first year of operation.
In the first auction held on January 10, 2018, Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, which operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, was the high bidder with a bid of $50,100,000. The center of that Category 4 location is located in the Borough of Yoe in York County.
Both Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association and Stadium Casino, LLC are ineligible to bid on additional Category 4 locations during the initial round of auctions. The Gaming Control Board could hold a subsequent round if all 10 available licenses are not auctioned off. If that occurs, successful bidders in the initial round could compete for additional Category 4 casino locations.
The Gaming Control Board plans to hold its next public auction on Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in its Harrisburg Public Hearing Room in Strawberry Square just prior to its regularly scheduled Board meeting. The auction will also be streamed live from the Board’s web site.
Subsequent auctions are planned every two weeks thereafter on Wednesdays at the same time and location.
