Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to Hold Category 4 Satellite Casino Auction on September 4th

The announcement was made following the ratification by the Board at its public meeting to re-implement the auction process that ended in April of 2018.

The first auction in this round is scheduled for September 4, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. just prior to the start of its regularly scheduled Board meeting. The auction will be held in the PGCB's Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. All current holders of a Category 1, 2 or 3 casino license in Pennsylvania are eligible to participate in this auction.

Under the Gaming Expansion Act of 2017, the Gaming Control Board was authorized to award up to 10 Category 4 (satellite) slot machine operator licenses through an auction process which was conducted from January to April 2018, resulting in five successful auctions garnering $127 million in bids to secure the right to obtain a Category 4 license. The successful winners and their bid price are as follows:

• Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, which operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, is seeking a license to construct a satellite casino in Springettsbury Township, York County ($50,100,000);


• Stadium Casino, LLC, which is constructing a Category 2 casino in Philadelphia, is seeking a license to construct a satellite casino in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County ($40,100,005);


• Mount Airy #1, LLC which operates the Mount Airy Casino Resort, is seeking a license to construct a satellite casino in Big Beaver Borough, Beaver County ($21,188,888.88);


• Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc., which operates the Parx Casino, is seeking a license to construct a satellite casino in Shippensburg Township, Cumberland County ($8,111,000); and,


• Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC was a successful bidder a second time and was awarded a Category 4 license on June 12, 2019 to construct a satellite casino in Caernarvon Township, Berks County ($7,5000,003).

The Board will stream the auctions live via its web site.

The Gaming Expansion Act 42 of 2017 established a minimum bid price of $7.5 million for Category 4 slot machine licenses.  A separate certificate for table games can then be obtained through Board approval for a fee of $2.5 million. A Category 4 facility may have between 300 and 750 slot machines along with a maximum of 30 table games at opening with the capability of adding an additional 10 table games after its first year of operation.

Following the auction process, winning bidders must pay the winning bid amount no later than 4 p.m. on the second business day after the date of the auction. They then have up to six months to submit an application for the Category 4 slot machine license which includes an exact location of the proposed satellite casino.