Yesterday, Parx Casino became the second gambling operator in Pennsylvania, after the SugarHouse Casino which was given the permission to do so of the state gambling regulators at the end of May. Now, the new offering is to help Parx effectively extend the reach of its Bensalem casino to more customers around the state.
As revealed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), the first of three days of online sports betting services’ testing for Parx would begin at 4 PM until midnight. There will be longer test periods on June 25th and 26th.
Parx Casino started taking sports bets in January 2019 at its brick-and-mortar venue. It also offers sports betting options at its off-track betting locations situated in Oaks and South Philadelphia.
Online sports betting expansion is set to proceed across the state of Pennsylvania, as Pittsburgh-based Rivers Casino is set to become the third casino to start offering the new type of betting on Tuesday, as revealed by Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the gaming board. The Rivers Casino is currently owned by the same company which owns and operates SugarHouse Casino in Philadephia – Rush Street Gaming. As revealed by the PGCB, only two days of testing before the final online sportsbook launch would be necessary for Rivers Casino, because it shares technology with SugarHouse.
Online Sports Betting Expansion Could Lead to Massive Growth of the Service in Pennsylvania
After the completion of the testing period of BetRivers, the sports betting service of Rivers Casino, the platform’s permanent operation is set to start on June 27th in case that the PGCB is satisfied with the results of the tests regarding a number of issues, including responsible gambling, customer interaction, financial accounting, etc.
Pennsylvania has become one of the first states which made sports betting legal since the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the gambling sector expansion in May 2018. Its decision lifted the federal ban on sports betting services in the country, allowing each state to make its own decision whether or not to add the new form of betting to its gambling sector. Currently, it is Kambi Group which manages the sports betting odds and lines for SugarHouse Casino, Parx Casino and Rivers Casinos.
As mentioned above, SugarHouse Casino started offering online sports betting services to local residents in late May. According to the gaming board’s records, casino patrons placed interactive sports bets worth $573,163 during the last four days of May while the new system of the Casino was undergoing some tests.
Industry experts have said that the launch of the new service would lead to massive growth to sports betting in Pennsylvania. In comparison, New Jersey customers who prefer to place bets on sports events through mobile platforms or desktop devices now account for approximately of the 80% of the sports betting volume.
