Hollywood Casino Penn National Online Sports Betting

Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse has been the home of a lot of “firsts” as it relates to gambling in Pennsylvania, and that holds true when it comes to the sportsbook as well. Hollywood was the first casino in PA to accept sports bets when they opened the sportsbook’s doors during the latter stages of November 2018. In February 2020, Penn National entered into a strategic partnership with Barstool Sports, whereby Barstool is exclusively promoting the Company's land-based and online casinos and sports betting. The Hollywood Casino sportsbook at Penn National Race Course officially launched and started taking in their first bets in November of 2018. They were the first sportsbook to open in the state of Pennsylvania, but the road to get there was long. Sports betting is here in Tunica and Hollywood Casino and 1st Jackpot Casino are your 50-yard-line ticket to real odds, points and over/unders. Relax and catch your favorite games on some of the area’s largest video screens and place your bets, while enjoying fantastic food. Penn National Gaming operates other casinos under the Hollywood Casino brand. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved a sports betting license for Hollywood Casino on October 3, 2018. 3 On November 15, 2018, sports betting began at Hollywood Casino with a two-day test; official sports betting began on November 17, 2018.

The wheels of government, both in passing laws and creating the necessary governing bodies and regulatory boards to carry out those laws, typically move at a glacier’s pace.

The lone exception, however, is when there is a several billion dollar pie at stake and everyone is clamoring for a slice.

It was at the end of 2017 that Pennsylvania passed its gaming law, allowing the state’s casinos to offer sports betting. This was done in anticipation of the US Supreme Court overturning a law that made it illegal for states to regulate sports betting.

The SCOTUS decision was handed down in May 2018, paving the way. Six months later, a Pennsylvania sportsbook took its first live sports bet. There are now a dozen retail sports betting

Rivers Sportsbook

Current opening hours are:

• Mondays through Thursdays: 10 a.m. to midnight
• Fridays: 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• Sundays: 9 a.m. to midnight

Located in the heart of Pittsburgh just a short walk from Heinz Field and PNC Park is the Rivers Sportsbook in the Rivers Casino. It boasts betting windows staffed 104 hours a week, self-service kiosks open all day long, and a beautiful location right on the Ohio River.

Live betting windows: 6
Self-service sports betting kiosks: 18
Audio/video: 10 HD TVs
Food/beverage: Bar and food menu available.
Software partner: Kambi
Online options: BetRivers

SugarHouse Sportsbook

(Opening hours are identical to Rivers Sportsbook’s.)

Philadelphia’s first casino, and now first sportsbook, is located on the Delaware River. The SugarHouse Sportsbook, situated directly across from the poker room in the SugarHouse Casino, is open every day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The casino itself is open 24 hours a day.

SugarHouse offers:

• Point spread
• Moneyline
• Alternative line
• Three-way moneyline
• Over/under
• Futures

All major team sports are available, as is boxing, MMA, golf, tennis and motor racing.

Live betting windows: 6
Self-service sports betting kiosks: 12
Audio/video: 12 HD TV monitors. A 14-by-7-foot video wall with odds display.
Food/beverage: Full-service bar and food menu available.
Software partner: Kambi
Online options: PlaySugarHouse.com PA

The Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course

Opening hours:

• Mondays through Fridays: 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.
• Saturdays and Sundays: 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Hollywood Casino Betting Slip

The Hollywood Casino at Penn National became the first Pennsylvania casino to offer its customers an operating sportsbook when it launched in November 2018.

The sportsbook features individual viewing stations, a 50-foot wall of televisions, and sports wagers that range from football, baseball, and basketball to rugby, cricket, and cycling.

Simulcast racing takes place seven days a week, and its 12-month live racing schedule features a total of 172 days in 2019.

Powered by William Hill, the largest sportsbook provider in the United States, the app is expected to be ready and online sometime in 2019.

Live betting windows: 6
Self-service sports betting kiosks: Yes
Audio/video: Viewing stations. Odds-display monitors. 50-feet of wall space dedicated to TVs. More than 50 televisions. One 110-inch video screen.
Food/beverage: Food/Beverage available at nearby Skybox Sports Bar
Software partner: Kambi
Online options: PA sports betting app launching in 2020

The Sportsbook at Parx Casino

Having just opened in January 2019, the new Sportsbook at Parx Casino gives the Philadelphia area yet another location to place sports bets.

Parx offers the following bet types:

• Point spread
• Moneyline
• Over/under
• Props
• Teaser wagering
• Futures

Bettors can place bets on:

• Football
• Basketball
• Baseball
• Hockey
• Soccer
• Golf
• Tennis
• Boxing
• MMA
• Motorsports

The sportsbook is open until midnight on Sundays and Mondays and until 1 a.m. the rest of the week. They offer simulcast horse racing seven days a week and live thoroughbred racing every Saturday through Tuesday.

Live betting windows: 7
Self-service sports betting kiosks: 45 (Available 24 hours)
Audio/video: 20 HD TVs. Two 16-by-9-foot video screens that split into four. Up to 28 games viewable at once.
Food/beverage: Full-service bar
Software partner: Kambi/GAN
Online options. Parx Sportsbook

South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook

Located next to Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field, right in the heart of the Philadelphia sports scene, is a second PA sportsbook operated by Parx.

The Turf Club has been simulcasting horse racing and providing off-track betting to the area since 1994, and while it will continue to do that, it now offers a full slate of sports on which to wager.

The Sportsbook at Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino

Owned by Caesars, which operates nearly 20 sportsbooks across the country, the new sportsbook at Harrah’s is located in a 4,300-square-foot, renovated racebook.

The sportsbook houses 40 flat-screen televisions, six live-teller windows, two horse racing terminals and a series of self-service kiosks, and its all just steps from the main casino.

Harrah’s also offers simulcast horse racing seven days a week and live harness racing from April through December in addition to all the standard sportsbook fare.

Harrah’s currently runs a fully functional casino and sportsbook app in New Jersey. We expect the same kind of integration when its app goes live in Pennsylvania.

FanDuel Sportsbook at the Valley Forge Casino

FanDuel, which operates the successful sportsbook at The Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment venue in New Jersey, has partnered with the Valley Forge Casino to operate the new sportsbook there.

The book offers all the standard fare and events you would find at FanDuel’s New Jersey retail and online sportsbooks. There are even less-followed sports like darts and Aussie rules football are on offer.

With loads of experience operating mobile connectivity, both with its daily fantasy sports app and the FanDuel app, the app is the most popular option for online betting in the state.

The Sportsbook at Presque Isle Downs and Casino

Hollywood Casino Penn National Sportsbook

If you’re a Pennsylvanian in the northwest corner of the state, don’t worry. Not all of the action is going to take place in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh or the middle of the state.

Presque Isle Downs, as part of its acquisition by Churchill Downs Inc., now offers both a BetAmerica retail sportsbooks and an online BetAmerica Sportsbook site.

Mount Airy Casino’s FOX Bet Sportsbook

Mount Airy Casino began offering retail sports betting and the FOX Bet online sportsbook during the 2019 football season.

Mohegan Sun Pocono’s Unibet Sportsbook

Mohegan Sun was one of the late adapters for sports betting, but the casino managed to beat some bigger players to market after partnering with Kindred, a sports betting operator in Europe.

The casino operates a Unibet retail sportsbook at Mohegan Sun Pocono and plans to offer one at the Lehigh Downs off-track betting parlor. It also offers Unibet Online Sportsbook.

Wyomissing casino gaming and horse racing giant Penn National Gaming has its sights firmly set on the Pennsylvania sports betting market.

In fact, if things go as planned, Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course will likely open up the state’s first sportsbook.

On Aug. 17, 2018, Penn National Gaming’s Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, the company that operates the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, became the first PA casino license holder to apply for a $10 million sports betting license in PA.

Once the application is approved, Penn National Gaming will have the right to launch both live and online sports betting out of its Hollywood Casino location.

Penn National Gaming and William Hill US

After applying, Penn National Gaming also announced it will be partnering with leading US sportsbook operator William Hill US on both brick and mortar retail and mobile sports betting operations.

William Hill US is Nevada’s largest sportsbook operator. It recently opened two sportsbooks in New Jersey, at Monmouth ParkRacetrack and Ocean Resort Casino. Plus, William Hill is the exclusive risk manager for the sports lottery-based sports betting operations in Delaware.

Penn National Gaming VP Fred Lipkin said the plan is to turn Hollywood Casino’s horse racing simulcast theater into a sportsbook:

“Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course today formally applied for a license to conduct sports wagering at our facility. We believe this will provide us another attractive amenity at Hollywood Casino, in addition to our full suite of the latest slot machines, table games, multiple dining outlets, exciting live racing and soon to be online gaming offerings.

“Our plan is to locate our sports book in a newly renovated simulcast theater area at Hollywood Casino and the operations will managed by William Hill US, the largest sports betting operator in the United States. Operations are expected to begin later this Fall upon final approval by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.”

Ready to launch

Penn National Sports Betting

When exactly operations will begin is debatable. In its application, the company claims it will be ready to launch sports betting as early as Sept. 30, 2018. However, recently released temporary sports betting regulations in PA ask casino license holders to apply for a license 90 days ahead of launch.

That would mean sports betting at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course will have to wait for mid-November. However, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) could approve its launch ahead of that.

The earliest that might happen would be PGCB’s Oct. 2 meeting.

In the meantime, Penn National and William Hill launched sportsbooks at five Mississippi casinos in September as well as Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.

Penn National Gaming currently operates 28 casino and racetrack facilities in 16 states and Canada. In Pennsylvania, this also includes The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Washington, just outside of Pittsburgh.

PA’s sports betting tax rate

In May 2018, Penn National Gaming was among several PA casino license holders claiming sports betting had a big problem. They said the state’s $10 million licensing fee and 36 percent tax rate made it hard to earn a profit.

In fact, spokesman Eric Schippers referred to the tax rate as the highest in the world. He said the company had yet to make a final determination on whether to pursue sports betting in PA.

Penn National Gaming has now made a final determination though, turning in the first sports betting application. As a result, it will likely be the first PA casino license holder to launch sports betting in the Commonwealth.

Two other casino license holders, Parx Casino and Mount Airy Resort Casino, have both announced plans for sport betting operations. However, Parx is the only other entity to apply for a license up to the final week of August 2018.

Hollywood Casino Sports Betting Online