Sands Bethlehem, which is owned by Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp, and the largest casino-resort in Pennsylvania, is looking to invest $90 million into its resort. The 100,000 square feet expansion will be the size of two football fields and will be located on the northern side of the casino.
The expansion will allow Sands casino to expand its table gaming offerings, which was already one of the most lucrative businesses in the United States outside of Las Vegas, and will also provide more restaurants and other facilities.
“We are proud to continue with our commitment towards reinvestment in the property by making this significant addition,” Mark Juliano, president of Sands Bethlehem, said in a statement.
Juiliano said that the casino had already reached capacity and often players would be unable to find an available slot machine or table game to play, especially on the weekends. The construction could be completed by the end of 2017.
This announcement comes only days after voters overwhelmingly opposed any casino expansion plan in North Jersey. Prior to this, no casino in Pennsylvania has requested having more than 250 table games. “We always figured Sands would be the first,” a Gaming Control Board spokesman said.
According to the PA Gaming Control Board, Sands Casino Resort raked in $19.4 million from table game revenue in September, which was 37.7% higher than nearby Parx Casino, and its table gaming revenue is routinely higher than other casinos in the state.
The additional casino floor space will bring Sands Casino line-up of table games to more than 300, but it requires special approval from the Gaming Control Board as under current licensing laws, casinos in the state are only permitted to house up to 250 gaming tables.
Sands Casino Expansion Concerns
However, although there is a lot of excitement surrounding the expansion of Sands Bethlehem, this is not to say there aren’t expansion concerns. Pennsylvania is looking at online gaming and daily fantasy sports expansion in the early part of 2017. The proposed bill would also allow airports in fairly close proximity to the casino to have slot machines.
