With the NFL season now more than half way over, Pennsylvania has still yet to open one of their newly legal sports books, but that could all be changing soon.
It has certainly taken some time to get to this point, but it now looks like Pennsylvania will have its first sports book open for business in a matter of days.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National is leading the way and is on pace to be the first PA casino with a legal sports book. Hollywood casino is located in the Harrisburg and Hershey area.
Just last week, Penn National had their professional odds maker approved which is one of the bigger hurdles to clear before being allowed to open up. Originally Pennsylvania was hoping to have this program up and running by the start of football season, that however was pushed back to mid-season.
Casinos must by a $10 million license fee up front in order to open one of these sports books, so far only 5 of 12 Pennsylvania casinos have done so.
Pennsylvania law allows betting on all college, professional, and international events.
There’s no word from Presque Isle Downs and Casino on whether or not they intend to apply for a sports book license. PI Downs is currently in the middle of a sale from Eldorado Resorts to Churchill Downs.
The deal is expected to be final sometime in the 4th quarter. We could learn more if they plan to apply for a license after that deal goes through.
