PGCB to hold casino auction
The Pennsylvania regulator PGCB will hold a Category 4 satellite casino auction on September 4.
US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) announced this week that it will hold an auction for the right to apply for a Category 4 casino licence. The announcement was made following the ratification by the board at its public meeting to re-implement the auction process that ended in April of 2018.
The first auction in this round is scheduled for September 4. The auction will be held in the PGCB’s Public Hearing Room located on the second floor of Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. All current holders of a Category 1, 2 or 3 casino licence in Pennsylvania are eligible to participate in this auction, PGCB said.
Under the Gaming Expansion Act of 2017, the Gaming Control Board was authorised to award up to 10 Category 4 (satellite) slot machine operator licences through an auction process which was conducted from January to April 2018, resulting in five successful auctions garnering US$127 million in bids to secure the right to obtain a Category 4 licence.
The Gaming Expansion Act 42 of 2017 established a minimum bid price of US$7.5 million for Category 4 slot machine licences. A separate certificate for table games can then be obtained through Board approval for a fee of US$2.5 million. A Category 4 facility may have between 300 and 750 slot machines along with a maximum of 30 table games at opening with the capability of adding an additional 10 table games after its first year of operation.
Following the auction process, winning bidders must pay the winning bid amount no later than 4 pm on the second business day after the date of the auction. They then have up to six months to submit an application for the Category 4 slot machine licence which includes an exact location of the proposed satellite casino.
