PHILADELPHIA - Plans to construct a $450 million casino in South Philly's stadium complex hit a snag in city council on Thursday, but one of the groups planning the project says bumps in the road. South Philadelphia’s long-delayed Live! Hotel & Casino Philadelphia will be open and operating in 2020, according to developer Stadium Casino LLC. Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor for the project. Demolition is scheduled to begin in December 2018, with construction beginning in 2019.

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Live! Casino Philadelphia online gambling overview

Live! Casino has had a unique approach to the Pennsylvania market. It was the first gaming company in Pennsylvania to debut PA online gambling products ahead of retail.

The unbuilt Philadelphia-area casino was one of the eight casino licensees to apply for the triple pack of PA internet casino licenses from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). Even though its property had not yet opened for business, management paid $10 million for permits to offer online slots, online table games, and online poker.

The PlayLive! online casino officially went live Aug. 14, 2020 becoming PA’s 11th iGaming option. The safe and secure gaming site is available as an app on both iOS and Android as well as via desktop.

Live! also partners with FanDuel Sportsbook, which will power its retail sportsbooks. Cordish patrons can also sign up to the FanDuel online sportsbook through Live! to access the same popular app Valley Forge Casino utilizes for online sports betting.

PlayLive! Online Casino games available in PA

Compared to other online casinos at launch, PlayLive! wasted no timing in offering a large selection of popular games.

The casino has around 100 online slots, including popular progressive slots Divine Fortune and Mercy of the Gods. Other popular slots you will find at the Live! online casino include:

• Wheel of Fortune: Triple Extreme Spin
• Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Getaway
• Jumanji
• Cleopatra
• Cats
• Hotline
• 100,000 Pyramid
• Da Vinci Diamonds
• Triple Red Hot 777 Free Games

Table games at PlayLive!:

• Blackjack
• Four types of roulette
• Baccarat

Video poker games at PlayLive! casino:

• Game King
• Deuces Wild
• Jacks Are Better

Live! Philadelphia as a gaming, resort, entertainment, and sports destination

The newest Philadelphia casino is in close proximity to:

• Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles
• Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers
• Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Phillies

The world-class hotel-casino complex aims to complement these existing stadium district venues.

In Philadelphia, the new casino joins Rivers Philadelphia, formerly called SugarHouse Casino, which opened up along the Delaware River in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood in 2010.

Live! Philadelphia promises to be the first comprehensive gaming, resort, entertainment, and sports destination in the United States. It is intended as a Las Vegas-style resort casino with top-notch amenities that could quickly change the face of the gambling industry in the state by merging entertainment, sports, gambling in a way Pennsylvania has never seen before.

Live! Philadelphia features:

• A 100,000 square-foot casino
• 2,200 slot machines and electronic table games
• 150 table games
• A 29-table pokerroom
• Retail FanDuel Sportsbook
• 200+ room hotel
• Restaurants
• Entertainment spaces
• 2,600-space parking garage
• Valet service

The hotel also includes a pool, spa, and fitness center.

Additional amenities planned for the property include six locally and nationally-recognized restaurants, multiple nightclubs, and a 10,000-square-foot music and entertainment venue with a rooftop party deck.

The facility is expected to draw another 4 million visitors annually in addition to the 8 million people who already visit the Stadium District to patronize the other facilities every year.

Casino Amenities

As a Category 2 casino license holder in the state, Stadium Casino LLC is permitted to operate major resort amenities including restaurants, spas, and entertainment venues.

Dining

Live! Philadelphia is home to a number of nationally-recognized dining options including a celebrity chef concept as well as local food staples.

Guy’s Burger Joint

This hip burger joint is celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s take on a roadside burger shack offering up mouth-watering burgers, “signature seasoned fries and ‘Off da Hook’ shakes.”

Hours coming soon.

Guy Fieri’s Taco Joint PA

In this fast-casual restaurant, enjoy made-from-scratch tacos, salsas and guacamole paired with refreshing margaritas, Mexican beer and more signature cocktails.

Hours coming soon.

Lorenzo and Sons Pizza

A local South Philadelphia staple since 1970, stop by this pizza joint for a slice or your own personal gourmet pizza. Rated in top 101 best pizzas in America by The Daily Meal.

Hours coming soon.

Sang Kee Noodle Bar & Kitchen

A casual Asian cuisine option featuring noodle dishes, stir fry, fragrant soups, dumplings, wontons and more traditional Asian food delicacies.

Hours coming soon.

Luk Fu Noodles Dim Sum

Enjoy Dim Sum recipes that weave locally-grown ingredients from Japan, Thailand, Korea, China and Vietnam. Luk Fu offers upscale authentic Asian cuisine in a casual environment.

Hours coming soon.

Termini Bros Gold Medal Pastry

A Philly family staple for 99 years boasting baked treats that follow Old World recipes. Offerings include cupcakes, crisp cannolis, buttery pastries, fresh-baked muffins and more.

Hours coming soon.

Entertainment and nightlife

Plans call for more than one nightclub to be built on the property. Plus, additional entertainment venues will include:

• 10,000-square-foot entertainment venue
• 6,500-square-foot private event space
• A 1,000-person music venue and rooftop party deck.

Hotel

The Live! Philadelphia property boasts five star accommodations in a hotel that includes more than 200 luxurious rooms, more than 30 suites, a grand event center and first-class dining options.

Casino Overview

The casino itself promises the newest state-of-the-art slots, electronic and table games. Plus a brand new poker room.

Who can play?

The minimum age to gamble at Live! Philadelphia is 21, the same as it is at all of the licensed casino properties in the state of Pennsylvania.

Security and Fairness?

Just like every other casino in Pennsylvania, Live! is licensed and regulated by PGCB. The board continually monitors all aspects of casino operations in the state to ensure and maintain the utmost standards of security and fairness.

Cordish Companies also has stellar reputations in the US gaming industry, ensuring a high level of integrity. The company’s portfolio of gaming facilities also includes licensed casinos in Maryland and Florida.

Casino games

As a Category 2 casino license holder in the state, Live! is permitted to operate up to 250 table games and 5,000 slot machines.

Live! Rewards player’s club

Players at Philadelphia Live! can participate in the world-class Live! Rewards’ Players Club. The rewards club is connected to Live! Pittsburgh as well as Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel and all of Cordish’s other US casino properties. Players can also earn rewards credits online at PlayLive! online casino in PA,.

The Live! Rewards Players Club is free to all players 21 and over.

Members of the club earn Retail Points for shopping on the property as well as Rewards Points for gambling. They also earn Tier Points that can result in increased earning power for the player.

Player’s earn 1 Tier Point and 1 Reward Point for every $1 bet on slots, $2 on video poker, and $6 on electronic table games. The number of Tier Points and Reward Points earned on traditional table games vary based on game type, length of play and average bet.

Poker players earn 100 Tier Points and 100 Reward Points for every hour playing poker.

Purchases at Live! Casinos or Shop Live! earn retail points at a rate of one for every $1 spent.

Players can redeem 600 Reward Points for $1 in comps on the property.

Live! had a complicated entry path into PA gaming

Stadium Casino LLC began as a joint development venture between Parx Casino and Racing‘s Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment and Cordish Companies, which owns and operates the Live!-branded casinos, hotels, and entertainment venues across the country.

Stadium Casino LLC won a statewide bid for a casino license for the project in November 2014. It applied after the original Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia project failed to obtain financing and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) revoked its license.

However, SugarHouse Casino and three other applicants fought the decision to grant Stadium Casino LLC the license on the grounds Greenwood Gaming owner Bob Manoukian’s ownership interest in Parx prohibited him from owning more than a one-third of another Pennsylvania casino in accordance with state law.

The project spent the next three years held up in court. However, in October 2017, the state repealed the casino ownership laws as a part of its new gambling expansion laws. Opponents immediately dropped the lawsuits and the Stadium Casino project got the greenlight again.

Stadium Casino LLC then received permits from Philadelphia’s Department of Licensing & Inspections in January 2018 to demolish the Holiday Inn at 900 Packer Ave. to make way for the new facility.

Stadium was also one of the successful bidders for a Category 4 casino – a so-called satellite or mini-casino. The casino management company paid just over $40 million to build one of these facilities in Westmoreland County, just east of Pittsburgh.

In November 2018 Cordish bought out Parx, announcing they would be moving forward with both mini-casino and Philadelphia casino plans alone.

Live! Casino Pittsburgh, constructed in a rehabbed space in Westmoreland Mall, made its grand opening Nov. 24, 2020 after several delays related to coronavirus restrictions.

Summary

Live! Philadelphia is a world-class hotel, casino and entertainment complex. It promises a plethora of gambling, dining, entertainment and accommodation options in the heart of the Stadium District.

As a major eastern US gaming, resort, and entertainment destination, Live! looks to attract visitors not just from Pennsylvania, but also from nearby New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Operators are hoping to attract gamblers who might otherwise go to nearby Atlantic City. Plus, they also want people accustomed to visiting Philadelphia’s Stadium District for entertainment to have an additional option.

The property’s growing reputation as a premier comprehensive gaming, resort, entertainment, and sports destination in the United States should only be cemented as casinos get back to operating at full capacity in Philadelphia.

The long-delayed Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia is now one step closer to becoming a reality. The property, an affiliate of the Maryland-based Cordish Companies, announced Gilbane Building Co. as the general contractor for the planned $700 million project. The target opening date is late 2020.

The Gilbane team, a global, family-owned company, brings 145-plus years of experience to the project.

Joe Weinberg, the managing partner of the Cordish Companies, spoke about the decision to go with Gilbane in a press release:

“Gilbane was a natural fit for this project because the team is so experienced in the hospitality industry and they bring a real understanding of our vision. Their reputation for quality and dedication to excellence is a core value we both share and expect for a project of this magnitude. We look forward to getting started.”

The complex is located in the heart of the South Philadelphia Stadium District. It will be just footsteps away from where the Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers play their home games. When finished, the 1.5 million-square-foot facility will “transform the area into the first integrated sports, entertainment and casino resort destination in the region.”

There is a pre-bid contractor information session on for Jan. 11. Xfinity Live!, the 4.4-acre entertainment district located within the sports complex that Cordish and Comcast-Spectacor own together, will host the event.

Stadium Casino project’s complicated history

Many may be wondering what is taking so long. Stadium Casino LLC won a Pennsylvania statewide bid for a casino license back in November 2014. The licensing process came about after the proposed Philadelphia-based Foxwoods Casino project failed to secure financing. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board ended up revoking its license.

The other players, including SugarHousealong with the three other applicants, decided to take the matter to court. The issue in question was tied to whether or not Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment owner Bob Manoukian’s stake in the Bensalem-based Parxprohibited him from owning more than one-third of another casino in the Keystone State.

The gambling expansion law passed in October 2017 made way for Stadium to secure a license. However, the project reached another crisis point when Greenwood decided to walk away back in October of 2018.

More about the Stadium Casino project

When completed, Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia will include 2,200 slots and electronic table games along with more than 150 live action table games. There will also be an upscale 200-plus room boutique hotel, nationally-recognized restaurants, and live entertainment venues.

Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia

In the short term, patrons will soon be able to place bets at the Greenwood-owned South Philadelphia Turf Club. The property is located across the street from the Live! Casino project. The retail sports betting operation will launch during the first quarter after Parx gets up and running. Parx plans to soft launch on Tuesday.

Live! in Maryland

Parx Casino Philadelphia

Cordish is the company behind the other Live! Casino and Hotel located in Maryland. It’s located a little more than 100 miles south of Philadelphia. It features gaming, dining and entertainment options as well. The property has been open since June 2012.