{"id":7651,"date":"2018-06-05T15:49:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T15:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/?p=7651"},"modified":"2018-06-06T15:02:58","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T15:02:58","slug":"extravagant-fees-turning-pa-casinos-away-from-sports-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/extravagant-fees-turning-pa-casinos-away-from-sports-betting\/","title":{"rendered":"Extravagant Fees Turning PA Casinos Away From Sports Betting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The final day of May was the first opportunity for\u00a0<strong>Pennsylvania<\/strong> casinos to begin applying for <strong>sports betting<\/strong> licenses. The new era of legalized sports betting began earlier that month when the <strong>US Supreme Court<\/strong>\u00a0on <strong>May 14<\/strong> ruled the <strong>Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act<\/strong>\u00a0(PASPA) unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>By <strong>May 31<\/strong>, Pennsylvania state regulators adopted their first regulations of sports betting. The following day, the sports betting license application process opened up. Yet, just a few days into the state\u2019s latest step toward entering the industry, casinos are apparently hesitant-at-best to get in on the action.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"what_is_causing_such_hesitation\">What is causing such hesitation?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On May 31, the <strong>Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board<\/strong>\u00a0(PGCB) announced that \u201cit has notified casino license holders that they can begin submission of petitions requesting approval to conduct sports wagering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the temporary regulations, casinos with licenses can conduct PA sports betting at any of the <strong>12 casinos<\/strong> in the state (a 13th is on the way) as well as via sports betting apps. The regulations also allow wagering at <strong>off-track betting facilities<\/strong> in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Yet this past weekend passed without any casinos leaping at the opportunity.<strong> Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Start with the <strong>$10 million<\/strong>, as that is the initial fee for casinos to receive approval to offer sports betting. Add in the hair-raising tax rate of <strong>36 percent<\/strong> on sports betting revenue. If the rate stands, it will be the <strong>highest rate in any jurisdiction in the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPennsylvania is in a different bucket because of the tax rate,\u201d <strong>Joe Asher<\/strong>, CEO of William Hill, told <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/sports\/sports-betting-pennsylvania-new-jersey-delaware-tax-rate-nba-game-3-20180604.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=Philly.com+Twitter+Account&amp;utm_source=t.co&amp;cid=Philly.com+Twitter\"><strong>The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cWe can\u2019t figure it out. Because of it, we haven\u2019t spent the time or effort in Pennsylvania that we have in New Jersey. The tax rate is such a big challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consider that New Jersey\u2019s proposed tax rate is eight percent. <strong>Nevada<\/strong>, meanwhile, has a <strong>5-percent<\/strong> state tax rate.<\/p>\n<p>Said Asher:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you\u2019re paying $10 million up front for the privilege of paying 41 percent (PA\u2019s 36 percent plus the federal government\u2019s 6-percent rate) in \u2026 taxes, plus the infrastructure costs, it\u2019s difficult for me to see how you make money in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span id=\"pa_wanted_to_be_among_the_first\">PA wanted to be among the first<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This was supposed to be the time casinos and sportsbooks would be champing at the bit to get in on the ground floor of sports betting. For some states, that is still the case. For example,\u00a0<strong>Delaware <\/strong>rolled\u00a0out its legalized wagering industry this week.<\/p>\n<p>In <strong>New Jersey<\/strong>, UK bookmaker <strong>William Hill<\/strong> has announced partnerships with <strong>Monmouth Park<\/strong> racetrack and Atlantic City\u2019s incoming <strong>Ocean Resort Casino<\/strong>. <strong>Resorts Casino Hotel\u00a0<\/strong>teamed with daily fantasy sports giant <strong>DraftKings<\/strong> as its sportsbook.<\/p>\n<p>The reasoning was sound for such quick deals. To be had is an estimated <strong>$150 billion<\/strong> in illegal sports wagers made annually across the country. Although an <strong>Oxford Economics<\/strong> report commissioned by the <strong>American Gaming Association<\/strong> estimates that all 50 states could only collect a combined <strong>$1.5 billion<\/strong> in taxes if using the <strong>8 percent<\/strong> rate that New Jersey has proposed.)<\/p>\n<p>In Pennsylvania, however, there does not seem to be as much urgency to land partners ahead of sports betting legislation.<\/p>\n<p>The Keystone State was supposed to be one of the first to roll out regulated wagering. After all, the state in <strong>2017<\/strong> legalized sports betting as part of a comprehensive gaming expansion. Now, though, it seems Pennsylvania will be lucky to feature any sportsbooks. That is unless lawmakers\u2019 attitudes change.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"what_can_be_done_to_spark_interest\">What can be done to spark interest?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Doug Harbach<\/strong>, spokesman for the PGCB, said the application process is open for <strong>120 days<\/strong>. He noted that within the timeline are the starts of the <strong>college football<\/strong> (86th day) and <strong>NFL<\/strong> (98th) seasons. The PGCB is also open to comments from interested parties until <strong>June 15<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet some casinos are beginning to rethink what to do with sports wagering.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t made a final determination on whether to pursue what is the highest rate on the planet for sports betting,\u201d <strong>Hollywood Casino spokesman Eric Schippers<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/news\/2018\/05\/casinos_seem_receptive_to_spor.html\">told <strong>Penn Live<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Pennsylvania is in something of a budget crisis. Hence why the license fee and the tax rate are so steep. Lawmakers and industry experts are certain that casinos and sportsbooks will still want to operate within the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they will all participate and would be shocked if they didn\u2019t,\u201d said Pennsylvania Rep.<strong> Robert Matzie<\/strong>. \u201cIn sports-crazy Pittsburgh and sports-crazy Philadelphia, you\u2019re going to see it bring a lot more people into the casino, watching the big-screen TVs, and when they get those people in the door to bet they\u2019ll also hopefully drop money at the tables or in the slots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo matter how the economy\u2019s going, whether it\u2019s in recession or booming, the one business that never goes out of business is the casino,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Still, with neighboring states having lower tax rates and costs for casinos and sportsbooks to operate,<strong> how long does PA think it can stand by its requirements<\/strong>? For now, the one-time $10 million fee and the 36 percent tax rate is in place. Yet the PGCB said it will take its time to install the best regulations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to do this thing right,\u201d said PGCB Commissioner <strong>Sean Logan<\/strong>, \u201cand we are not going to rush through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The post Extravagant Fees Turning PA Casinos Away From Sports Betting appeared first on Play Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The final day of May was the first opportunity for\u00a0Pennsylvania casinos to begin applying for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","vebbtech_seo_disable_yoast":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_author":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_date":false,"vebbtech_seo_hide_factchecker":false,"vebbtech_seo_fact_check_enabled":false,"vebbtech_seo_post_reviewer":0,"vebbtech_seo_post_review_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-link","6":"category-news-category","7":"post_format-post-format-link"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Extravagant Fees Turning PA Casinos Away From Sports Betting -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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