Stadium-district casino wins new Philly license

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia-area gambling market is set to get competitive now that state regulators voted today to award a license to Live! Hotel & Casino, a joint venture of two Eastern seaboard casino operators to be built in South Philadelphia’s stadium district.

Live! won a four-way competition for the last casino license in eastern Pennsylvania, and the fifth in the Philadelphia region. It will be owned and operated by Cordish Cos. of Baltimore and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board members did not immediately explain their decision; they will release their analysis in the coming days. In any case, a casino could take a couple years to build, even if the result is not challenged in court.

The decision came amid casino closings in Atlantic City, increasing competition on the Eastern seaboard and worries that a new casino will siphon gamblers from competitors that can scarcely afford to lose them.

Pennsylvania, which rocketed into the second-biggest commercial casino state in a matter of a few years, is also feeling the effects of competition from other Eastern seaboard states. The state has opened 12 casinos since 2006, and there is license for one more available. But some analysts say the Philadelphia-area market is either saturated already or coming close, and wagering at slot machines, the bread and butter of Pennsylvania’s casinos, is on the decline for two straight years. This fiscal year may make it three in a row. Meanwhile, in nearby Atlantic City, four of the city’s 12 casinos have shuttered this year and a fifth, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, says it will close next month.