Operator News
US – Pennsylvania Gaming Board renews Sands Bethleham’s licence
By Phil - 4 June 2018
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has unanimously voted to renew the Category 2 Casino Operator’s License of Sands Bethworks, operator of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem located in Northampton County.
The casino is in the process of being bought for US$1.3bn by Wind Creek Hospitality, an affiliate of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama.
The seven-member Board determined that Sands Bethworks had fulfilled the obligations under its previously-approved casino operator’s license and therefore qualified to have its license renewed for a five-year period.
The decision to renew the license was based on a process utilized by the Board that enables both the operator and the public to provide information relevant to the renewal decision. A public input hearing was held in April of this year in the casino’s host municipality, the City of Bethlehem, where personnel of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem submitted exhibits and presented testimony on various aspects of the facility’s operation since its last license renewal was granted in April 2014. The public was also permitted to provide testimony on the casino and its impact in the community.
The Board also received testimony from local government officials, community groups and the PA State Police, along with Bureaus within the Gaming Control Board.
Since its opening in May 2009, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem has generated nearly $4bn in gross revenue from the play of slot machines and table games resulting in a return to the Commonwealth of over $1.6bn in gaming tax revenue. Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem currently operates over 3,000 slot machines and 245 table games, while employing over 2,400 persons.
