The momentum for passage of online gaming legislation in Pennsylvania continued last week as a key state Senate committee held a second hearing on SB 900, the iGaming bill sponsored by the committee’s chairwoman, Senator Kim Ward.
Ward’s bill, like its counterpart in the state House sponsored by Rep. John Payne, would legalize online casino games as well as poker, and licenses would be restricted to current brick-and-mortar casinos. However, the fees in Ward’s bill are higher—$10 million for an iGaming license with five-year renewals at $1 million, compared to $5 million in the House bill—and the revenue tax would be 54 percent, as opposed to 14 percent in the House measure.
The bills sponsored by Ward in the Senate and Payne in the House are considered the two front-running pieces of iGaming legislation for Pennsylvania, although with the high fees and taxes, it’s unlikely Ward’s bill would draw much interest from iGaming companies.
At last week’s hearing, Kevin O’Toole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, testified that regulators could get online gaming up and running quickly once it is approved by the legislature. “We’re anticipating a range of between nine and 12 months to actually begin the play on the internet if it’s authorized by the General Assembly,” said O’Toole, while conceding, “an awful lot of things have to occur to get to that point.”
O’Toole also advised against a provision in the Senate measure that would require customers to register for online accounts in person at each brick-and-mortar casino, noting that none of the three current iGaming states, Nevada New Jersey or Delaware, requires in-person registration.
O’Toole also said revenues should not be expected to be high at the outset but will improve over time.
Also testifying at the Senate hearing was Michael Cohen, senior vice president of Caesars Entertainment, who noted that Caesars’ experience with online gaming in New Jersey and Nevada has shown that it is generating new players for casinos. Sixty percent of online players are age 21-39, he said, an age range that is present in less than 30 percent of the current casino customer base.
