Wind Creek Bethlehem is the second biggest casino in Pennsylvania when it comes to total gaming revenue. This is according to the state’s Gaming Control Board figures from 2019. The biggest gaming venue in the Keystone State is Parx Casino near Philadelphia. Currently the best online casino offers in PA are the Unibet Bonus Code and Pointsbet Promo Code.
Once the former Las Vegas Sands property gets state approval to reopen its doors for business, plans for a land-based sportsbook should get underway. The plan call for construction to begin in August with everything up and running in November.
Earlier this week, the casino received approval from the state gaming board for a sports betting operator license. According to Pennbets.com, this will be the 14th land-based sportsbook in the state and the 10th PA online sportsbook.
Wind Creek Bethlehem has partnered with Betfred in this collaboration. This UK-based sports betting company is the world’s largest privately-owned retail bookmaker. The deal first originated in January of this year and it has been waiting on regulatory approval.
The full sportsbook service will be available to Wind Creek patrons along with internet and mobile betting within the state.
Back in January, Wind Creek Hospitality President and CEO James Dorris released the following statement:
We look forward to the opportunity to work with Betfred to offer sports betting at Wind Creek Bethlehem. Their experience and leadership in the sports wagering market gives us confidence that Betfred is an excellent partner as Wind Creek Bethlehem expands gaming offerings in Pennsylvania.
More recently, the casino’s general manager Kathy McCracken informed the board that Wind Creek plans to launch Betfred’s online/mobile site first. Check out the New Jersey online sportsbooks in the market meanwhile. There is no set timetable but speculation points to late summer in advance of the start of the new NFL season in early September.
A gaming board spokesperson relayed that Betfred has yet to apply for permission to test its sports betting site for public use. It was also noted that the actual betting platform will be provided by Scientific Games.
The will be Betfred’s third sports betting collaboration in the US market. Earlier this year, they started up operations in specific Colorado sportsbooks and retail for Iowa casinos. These operations are run through the company’s US subsidiary, Betfred USA Sports. This company is located in Las Vegas.
Wind Creek purchased the Bethlehem casino from Las Vegas Sands in May of 2019 for $1.3 billion. That helped delay the decision to pay the state’s $10 million license fee for sports betting. The parent company of Wind Creek Hospitality is Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
The only PA casino opting out of sports betting right now is Lady Luck Nemacolin. This is one of the smallest gaming facilities in the state from a revenue standpoint.
The new Wind Creek sportsbook will fill the space formally occupied by Buddy V’s Ristorante. Plans call for 79 television monitors. Along with standard betting windows, there will be 13 self-serve betting kiosks.
Wind Creek Bethlehem has been closed since March 15 due to the coronavirus. It hopes to reopen its doors in time for the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend.
