Competition to win one of the new casino licenses in Philadelphia, one in Pittsburgh and two for the rest of the state, has become fierce, with bidding companies offering ever more outrageous and lavish facilities if awarded the coveted licenses that will introduce well over 60,000 slot machines to the state.
The 22 applicants for the licenses include Philadelphia Park's racetrack in lower Bucks County, which is planning a 15,000 square-foot buffet and Donald Trump proposing a casino that features 8,000 square feet of retail shopping and a three-theatre cinema complex, while other offer water parks, golf courses, spas and business centres.
However locals remain sceptic as the bidding companies come up with bigger and better proposals in an effort to win the licenses. The casino corporations offer no guarantee that these offers will actually come to pass, they only state that this is the direction their plans are headed.
Still, two of the major bidders launched massive advertising and marketing drives in Pittsburgh that resembled something like major election campaigns, in hopes of garnering local support for the bid.
Meanwhile several community groups are busy at word to oppose the coming casino boom, saying that the opening of gambling complexes could further depress the local economy, lead to more problem gambling and related social problems as well as lowering the employment standards in the area.
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