By Annie Ross
Philly sports betting is on the horizon — perhaps as early as next week — after conditional approval of sports wagering operator licenses by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) yesterday.
During its public hearing, the PGCB granted the sports betting operator petitions of Rush Street Interactive and Sports Information Services, Limited (SIS). The former group is the in-house division for Rush Street Gaming, which owns both SugarHouse and Rivers casinos. The latter is the official business name of Kambi, a sports betting company working with three of the six PA casinos seeking sports betting.
The two companies’ operations would power Parx Sportsbook, and SugarHouse sports betting.
Parx Casino, the second PA property to apply for a sports betting license, presented its petition to the PGCB in early October. After nearly two months, Parx could realistically open its doors in December. After that, the South Philadelphia Turf Club can go live after Parx passes testing and opens. It is an off-track betting parlor covered under Parx’s license.
The Bensalem sportsbook has Kambi in its corner, a partnership that went public earlier this month.
Kambi also has agreements with SugarHouse and Rivers, both of which received conditional approval for sports betting licenses in late-October, courtesy of two applications submitted by Rush Street.
The two properties, SugarHouse in Philadelphia and Rivers in Pittsburgh, both are initially aiming for Dec. 1 openings for their temporary sportsbooks. Like Parx, those sportsbooks would seem pressed to go live by within that timeline.
