The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved several regulations last week related to online gaming and daily fantasy sports, with experts predicting the first online games in Pennsylvania could be available to players by November.
The gaming board considered and approved regulations related to the security and integrity of iGaming, including physical and environmental controls for equipment, access limitations for equipment, system requirements, software disclosures and shutdown and recovery standards, and game testing and controls. Additionally, the board addressed rules for liv e interactive gaming—live-dealer games broadcast via video, with players participating in the live games online. Rules also were approved for advertising, promotions and tournaments for online gaming.
Regulators have yet to address what has become a contentious issue as they draft regulations—the number of “skins,” or online gaming domains, permitted for each operator. Two Pennsylvania casino operators—Parx and Hollywood Penn National—have been actively lobbying the PGCB to limit each online operator to a single skin, while many potential iGaming stakeholders are pushing for a system similar to New Jersey, where each iGaming licensee can operate several online casino domains.
PGCB Executive Director Kevin O’Toole said in an interview with Online Poker Report that those issues could be addressed in one more set of regulations to be approved by the board, possibly at today’s regular monthly meeting.
Regulators take up the skins issue after a letter from two prominent Pennsylvania lawmakers urged them to resist calls to limit the number of skins permitted. Reps. Rosita Youngblood and Jason Ortitay, who were instrumental in crafting last fall’s gaming expansion package that included iGaming, wrote that the law’s crafters never intended to impose a skins limit.
“As the prime sponsor of the law, I am compelled to advise you that there was never an intent to limit the number of skins,” the letter states. “To the contrary, the legislation I drafted specifically contemplates ‘skins’ in the context of plural, and doesn’t use the word in its singular context.
“I urge you to consider the notion that limiting skins would decrease competition and protect only the brands of a few interests. Instead, we should look to increase competition, increase tax revenue and improve the quality of interactive gaming products in Pennsylvania, while at the same time improving customer experience by allowing for multiple skins per license…
“The Board should not limit the numbers of skins, nor place conditions on how access to the skins occurs. This will increase revenue for the commonwealth at a pivotal time, instead of limiting competition or placing an undue burden on how a patron obtains access to a skin.”
The gaming board announced last week that companies can begin to submit online gaming applications on June 4. However, it remains to be seen how many casinos apply for which types of licenses, as the tax rate set by the law for online slot games is 54 percent, which many land-based licensees have said is unworkable. So far, only four of the state’s 12 casinos have publicly stated they will apply for online casino licenses—Parx, Mount Airy Casino, SugarHouse and Rivers Casino.
