Two more casinos have tossed their sports betting hats in Pennsylvania, the state Gaming Control Board said Friday
The regulator revealed that Mount Airy Casino Resort and Mohegan Sun Pocono have both submitted their applications to operate sports betting in addition to their existing gambling offering. The two properties are located within 40 miles from each other.
Mohegan Sun Pocono is owned by Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, the gambling enterprise of Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribe. The tribe announced earlier this week that it has clinched a sports betting partnership with Malta-based provider of gambling solutions Kambi Group. Kambi will power a sportsbook at the Mohegan’s flagship property – Mohegan Sun – when and if sports betting becomes legal in Connecticut.
Mohegan Gaming’s Pennsylvania casino will not be working with Kambi. The gambling venue announced a multi-year partnership with Malta-based online gambling operator Kindred Group. If Mohegan Sun Pocono gets the necessary regulatory approval, Kindred will operate the property’s in-person sportsbook as well as a sports betting website.
As for Mount Airy Casino Resort, it partnered with online gambling operator 888 Holdings several years ago. Their partnership has remained strictly promotional as none of the services offered by the company were legal in Pennsylvania up until recently. Now, as Mount Airy has applied for a betting license, they can finally extend the scope of their relationship.
Mount Airy also announced last year a partnership with The Stars Group, which will enable the latter to offer online sports betting and gaming products in Pennsylvania. The deal will mark The Stars’ return to a second US state, after it went live in New Jersey in 2016.
Pennsylvania’s Sports Betting Market So Far
It is yet to be seen when Mohegan Sun Pocono and Mount Airy’s applications will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and when the two properties will be able to go live with sports betting.
There are eight operational sportsbooks in the state so far. Pennsylvania legalized sports betting well ahead of last year’s landmark ruling of the US Supreme Court that struck down a long-standing federal ban on the practice. The state Legislature, headed by Governor Tom Wolf, passed an omnibus gambling expansion legislation in the fall of 2017 that, among other things, authorized sports betting at physical and digital outlets.
It took more than a year before sports gambling arrived to Pennsylvania. Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course was the state’s first gambling venue to go live with betting. Presque Isle Downs & Casino is expected to soon launch Pennsylvania’s ninth physical sportsbook. The casino and horse race track was granted a license in February, but it is to be seen when its betting offering will go live.
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