Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle Applies for Sports Betting

The Presque Isle Downs and Casino (l.) has petitioned Pennsylvania regulators to become the seventh state casino to offer sports betting.

Presque Isle Downs and Casino near Erie has petitioned the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to offer sports betting. The casino, owned by Eldorado Resorts but soon to be purchased by Kentucky’s Churchill Downs, is the seventh of the 12 Pennsylvania casinos to apply to offer sports betting.

The casino is applying to offer both a physical sports book and online sports wagering. If the application for sports betting is approved, the casino will pay a $10 million fee for a sports wagering license.

Five of the seven sports betting requests submitted to the Gaming Control Board have been approved, and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course outside Harrisburg recently became the first of the state’s casinos to go live with a sports book.

The 18-page filing submitted by Presque Isle Downs and Casino outlines the request and includes provisions for the still uncompleted merger with Churchill Downs.

Sports betting at the casino would add 42 jobs, according to the petition, but 23 of them would be located at the Churchill Downs headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

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