On Monday (October 31), Pennsylvania Governor Tow Wolf signed legislation that will not only see online gaming legalized, but will also pave the way for gaming to become available at additional locations, including truck stops and airports.
“There’s been a lot of pressure from a lot of places in the commonwealth to actually expand this, and we do need some recurring revenue,” Wolf told a media scrum on Monday. “Again, the goal has been all along to do what’s prudent, not cannibalize existing gambling revenue coming to the state, and I think what we’re settling on will actually do that.”
The legislation will allow almost all of the 12 casinos that are currently operating in the state to submit multi-million-dollar bids for new brick and mortar gaming locations that will be on a much smaller scale than the existing casinos. The bill allows the eight airports in the state to accommodate ‘interactive’ gaming parlours going forward, while approved truck stops will also be able to house up to five video gaming terminals.
Pennsylvania has now become the fourth state – including Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey – to legalize online gaming. Both commercial casinos and the state lottery are included in the online expansion.
State lawmakers are expecting that the gaming expansion will lead to an additional $200 million in annual revenue for the state. Media reports that were published last week stated that the Pennsylvania horse racing industry will not be receiving any percentage of the funds derived from the gaming expansion.
(With files from the Allentown Morning Call)