Philadelphia Park backs off on permanent slots casino
The honeymoon is over at Philadelphia Park.

Less than six months after the track in Bensalem, Pa., on the northeast outskirts of Philadelphia, became Pennsylvania’s first Thoroughbred racino, its horsemen are being rocked by alarming news.

Philadelphia Park hopes to jettison its plans to build a separate slots facility in the near future, and instead continue its present arrangement—conducting business in its renovated grandstand filled to overflowing with slot machines on four floors, while pari-mutuel wagering and all indoor facilities for watching live racing and simulcasts are relegated to a single, family-unfriendly floor at the top of the building.

Mike Ballezzi, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association’s executive director, who glowed with enthusiasm over the marriage of racing and slots in an interview published in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred this past February, has labeled the move a “classic bait and switch.”

Says Ballezzi: “Greenwood Gaming [which owns Philadelphia Park] made elaborate promises to area residents, local elected officials and the [Pennsylvania] Gaming [Control] Board in order to gain their support and obtain a gaming license. Now the company is backtracking on its promises to build a world-class destination resort—including a $300 million permanent casino by the fall of 2009. If Philadelphia Park is successful in having this facility deemed ‘permanent’ there will be nothing left to compel the company to move ahead with any of its promised investments in the site.”

Philadelphia Park contends that because its slots are even more popular than expected, a change in plans is called for. The company wants to expand its current slots area to maximize revenues. Then, it has stated, it will plan for a permanent slots facility that better suits the market.

The stakes are obviously high for all concerned, and the Gaming Control Board will be put to a serious test in deciding whether to grant Philadelphia Park’s request for the drastic change in plan. The board has said that it will hold public hearings on the issue. Like a lot of other people, we’ll be closely following the reports.