Casinos in Philadelphia
In July 2004, the state of Pennsylvania paved the way for casino entertainment by legalizing slot machine gambling for 14 venues. The licenses were to be designated as follows: |
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2 Licenses | City of Philadelphia | |||||
| 1 License | City of Ptitsburgh | ||||||
| 2 Licenses | Stand alone slot parlors outside the cities mentioned above | ||||||
| 2 Licenses | Resorts incorporating slots (outside the cities mentioned above) | ||||||
| 7Licenses | Racetracks throughout the state |
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| After passing the new gaming legislature, a deadline of December 28, 2005 was set for applicants wishing to be considered for the available licenses. In all there would be a total of 26 applicants. A total of 5 groups applied for the 2 licenses allotted to the city of Philadelphia. | ||
| Philadelphia Applicants: | ||
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1 | Pinnacle Entertainment |  |
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| 2 | Trump Street (Donald Trump) | |||||
| 3 | SugarHouse Casino | |||||
| 4 | Planet Hollywood's Riverwalk Casino | |||||
| 5 | Foxwood's Casino |
| After nearly a year of deliberations, the Pennsylvania gaming commission announced on December 20, 2006 that the 2 licenses for the city of Philadelphia would be awarded to both the SugarHouse Casino and the Foxwoods Casino. | ||
| In addition to the $50 million license fee, all casinos are to be subject to the state imposed tax rate of 54%. The casinos’ revenue is to be broken down as follows: | ||
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45% | Licensee Retained Earnings | |||
| 34% | Tax to State Gaming Fund | ||||
| 12% | Horse Race Industry | ||||
| 5% | Economic Development and Tourism Fund | ||||
| 4% | Tax to Local and County Governments |