Wynn scraps plans for a Philadelphia casino
Wynn Resorts, headed by casino mogul Steve Wynn has withdrawn it’s proposal to build a casino and 300-room luxury hotel in Philadelphia.
Wynn was one six applicants competing for the city’s second casino license. Wynn proposed a casino on the Delaware River in Fishtown with 2,500 slot machines and 100 table games.
The company issued a statement saying it’s withdrawing, citing the Philadelphia market’s performance over the past year and expected competition from New York, where voters last week authorized the licensing of seven full-scale casinos.
“Wynn Resorts is the premier, high-end casino developer in the world,” said Israel Posner, who heads the Lloyd D. Levinson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Posner said Wynn will go where the best opportunities for growth are and with seven casinos in eastern Pennsylvania and more competition coming, it may be a less attractive bet.
“The world is his oyster,” Posner said. “He doesn’t see Philadelphia or the mid-Atlantic market as his boundaries for doing business his perspective truly is worldwide.”
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will consider the five remaining casino proposals for Philadelphia — two in center city, and three in South Philadelphia.
The control board will invite developers back in January to make their final pitches for why they should win the license that’s up for grabs.
Philly’s first casino, Sugarhouse opened its doors in 2010.
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