Wind Creek Bethlehem wants to clear off 655 slot machines from its casino floor. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI), which owns and operates a commercial casino in Alabama, says the decision to remove terminals was made due to changing patron behavior.
The Wind Creek Bethlehem casino floor is crowded with slot machines. The Pennsylvania casino is requesting regulatory authority to remove 655 terminals in order to give customers more room to socialize. (Photo courtesy of Wind Creek Bethlehem)
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) recently granted PBCI’s gaming and hotel unit Wind Creek Hospitality’s request to limit the number of slot machines on its Bethlehem casino floor. Wind Creek seeks to reduce their slot allocation from 2,973 to 2,318 machines, a 22 percent reduction.
Wind Creek Bethlehem wants the “referenced permanent slot machine reduction based on decreased utilization, to create a more comfortable and engaging experience for its patrons, taking into account increased desire for social distancing, with no projected negative impact on Commonwealth revenues,” according to the casino’s filing.
When a licensee wants to reduce the quantity of slot machines by more than 2%, they must first get authorization from the state gaming regulating agency.
Wind Creek Bethlehem is one of Pennsylvania’s only three casinos with more than 2,000 slot machines. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh (2,559 terminals) and Parx Casino are the other two (2,372 terminals).
Wind Creek is also looking to add 2,566 square feet to its gaming floor. The former Burgers and More restaurant will become home to 17 poker tables, according to Wind Creek, pending PGCB approval.
Second Wind
Before the Poarch Indians purchased the Pennsylvania casino from Las Vegas Sands in May 2019 for $1.3 billion, Wind Creek Bethlehem was known as Sands Bethlehem. The timing could not have been more inconvenient, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States eight months later.
Prior to its sale, Sands Bethlehem was Pennsylvania’s largest casino income generator. The casino once known as Wind Creek Bethlehem has lost the title to Parx near Philadelphia.
Because Wind Creek was a new brand to Pennsylvanians, some former Sands Bethlehem players went to Philly casinos instead. Sands depended heavily on its bus services to ferry players to its Pennsylvania resort from North Jersey and the New York City metro.
Wind Creek began recouping some of the business last year. The casino reported $264.9 million in slot revenue — up 76 percent from 2020 — and $185.1 million from table games — up 78 percent.
Those numbers ranked second among the 16 casinos in the commonwealth. Where Wind Creek is struggling is in the expanded gambling markets.
Wind Creek actually lost nearly $500,000 running its sportsbook last year. Its iGaming revenue totaled just $12.5 million — a far cry from the $418.9 million that Penn National generated from internet slots and tables.
Standalone Sportsbook Restaurant Opens
In related Pennsylvania gaming news, the state’s first physical sportsbook outside a brick-and-mortar casino opened this week in Malvern. Parx is lending its race and sportsbook license to Chickie’s & Pete’s, a popular Philly restaurant chain.
The Chickie’s & Pete’s location in Malvern on the Main Line today opened its sportsbook. The space features four standalone sports betting kiosks, plus a full-service counter.
Pennsylvania’s 2017 gaming expansion package authorized sports betting at casinos and online. The statute additionally allows sports gambling at off-track betting facilities so long as they’re operated by a racetrack casino such as Parx.
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