By Harry Allison
A sports-betting certificate was granted yesterday to Stadium Casino LLC, which allows it to begin accepting sports wagers online in the next few months.
The Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia at 900 Packer Ave. in the stadium district, is being built by the Cordish Company of Baltimore.
Cordish argued that the 2017 state law legalizing sports betting did not prohibit a casino from launching online before its brick-and-mortar facility is operating, and the Pennsylvania gaming board recommended that the casino must be operating a retail sportsbook before it launched its internet betting service, the pattern set by 10 other casinos that have been approved for sports betting.
Cordish says it is moving to open the city’s second casino by the end of 2020, and plans a topping-off ceremony today to mark the completion of the steel structure of the 160-foot-high, 12-story hotel.
They were in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with an operator of its sportsbook.
The gaming board’s decision will allow Stadium Casino to begin to earn a return, sooner rather than later, on the $10 million sports-betting fee the state assesses.
