January 4th, 2011 – by Glen Farmer
Though another casino was planned for Philadelphia, the plan has been cut short by Foxwoods’ inability to get their casino off the ground. Their license has been stripped, and officials in Pennsylvania have debating what to do with the gap left by what would have been Philadelphia’s second casino.
With the casino now all but gone, officials have begun to contemplate whether another casino is even necessary. Governor Edward Rendell has, however, admitted that another casino is not entirely necessary in the region.
“We’ll have to take a look at that and see if there’s another area that’s underserved,” stated Rendell when asked about whether or not the casino license would be awarded to someone for the area outside Philadelphia.
Foxwoods lost its license on December 16th, over 4 years after the license was awarded in 2006.
The loss of the Foxwoods license has made it so SugarHouse is the sole casino in Philadelphia. SugarHouse has proven fairly successful, though the fear held by opponents that social ills would emerge has been slightly proven by a brief string of attempted robberies against a small number of players.
The location for the next casino is completely up in the air. The region and company to receive the license is completely unknown.