Don’t jump the gun.
In the case of the Sands Bethlehem Casino Resort sale, local officials expected to see the item taken up for state approval at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s May 15 meeting in Harrisburg. But when the meeting’s agenda was posted online Thursday, the change of control from Sands Bethworks Gaming to PCI (Poarch Creek Indians) Gaming Authority, which operates under the Wind Creek Hospitality brand for marketing and public relations, was not on it.
It means that 14 months after the $1.3 billion deal was announced, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see the massive transaction cross the finish line. But it appears we’re in the homestretch.
Wind Creek spokeswoman Magi Thomley Williams said the company is “actively working with the board to schedule inclusion in an upcoming agenda.” The Gaming Control Board’s next meeting is June 12, which would be nearly five months after Wind Creek executives visited the Bethlehem casino and publicly announced plans to break ground on a 300-room hotel tower as soon as the day after the deal closes.
When Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced March 8, 2018, that it had reached a definitive agreement to sell its smallest property, a casino industry source told The Morning Call such a transaction would typically take nine to 12 months to be completed.
When Wind Creek and Sands finally do get to Harrisburg, the board will have the opportunity to question the two parties and get answers to any outstanding issues. If all goes well, the change of control could get approved that same day, paving the way for the transaction to close about a month later.
According to the state’s March 22 reply to the change-of-control petition, the board will likely ask at the meeting how Wind Creek plans to handle an increasingly competitive Northeast gambling market. In fact, the board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel pointed out, Wind Creek’s gambling operations are not in “strictly regulated markets or in heavily competitive markets.”
“Respondent believes that it is imperative that the board be informed in detail of how proposed owner PCI Gaming Authority plans to combat the surrounding state competition in Pennsylvania and how it plans to maintain or improve the market established by the present day owners of Sands Bethworks Gaming LLC,” the Office of Enforcement Counsel wrote.
In addition, according to the March 22 filing, the board wants more details on how Wind Creek plans to capitalize on the state’s gambling expansion of 2017. As it is now, Sands obtained, on Wind Creek’s behalf, an online gambling certificate for the facility, though the casino has no intention of using it while still controlled by Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, a firm opponent of online gambling.
Wind Creek has not publicly announced its plans for sports betting in Pennsylvania, having been more focused on closing the Sands Bethlehem transaction. While Wind Creek’s home state of Alabama hasn’t legalized sports betting, it is available at some of the company’s locations outside the state, including at the Wa She Shu Casino in Gardnerville, Nev., that it manages.
The board’s enforcement counsel also would like details on how Wind Creek plans to address the recurring issue of underage patrons accessing Sands Bethlehem’s casino floor. Just last month, Sands was hit with a $120,000 fine by the board related to 11 underage customers getting on the casino floor from March 2018 to January.
Those questions and others could be raised by the board, potentially on June 12.
In its 10-year anniversary month — Sands Bethlehem opened May 22, 2009 — the gambling complex’s roughly 2,500 employees will have to wait a little longer to usher in Wind Creek Bethlehem.
Morning Call reporter Jon Harris can be reached at 610-820-6779 or at jon.harris@mcall.com
