The Second Philly Casino License Goes to Live!

Rendering of Live! Hotel and Casino via PlanPhilly

The PA Gaming Control Board has just publicly voted to award the second Philadelphia casino license to Stadium Casino LLC, operating as Live! This is just the initial phase of the licensing. The decision is subject to appeal, and therefore the Board will not comment on the decision. The meeting has just ended, but before it did, PA Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Ryan said that the denials of the other three petitioners had nothing to do with lack of character or integrity in the other contenders. Rather, the decision was based on the following factors: the protection of the public; public interest and the social effects of gambling; the integrity and control of the slots business; tax revenues and tourism in Pennsylvania.

Live! Hotel and Casino will, barring any appeals (ha) be at Ninth and Packer, in the stadium area–specifically on the corner of Packer Avenue and Darien Street. It’ll have a 220-room hotel (what’s now the Holiday Inn, but spiffied up); six restaurants with food court; a casino with 2,000 slot machines and 125 table games open 24 hours a day; and a 1,000 seat music venue.

This is a joint project between Greenwood Racing, which owns Parx in Bensalem, and Cordish Companies, which operates Xfinity Live!.