When Parx Casino opened a suburban Philadelphia sportsbook/racebook at a new sports bar of the popular Chickie’s & Pete’s restaurant chain nearly two years ago, officials touted it as the dawn of a new retail era for Pennsylvania sports bettors.
Without the logistical hassle of getting to a casino, and with a better atmosphere than the musty off-track betting parlors of old, customers could get down a bet on a game or race at a counter or kiosk.
Legal sports betting was possible within a section of the restaurant beyond a security checkpoint, mere footsteps away from where the bettors could watch a televised game or race while enjoying food and drink, perhaps even with family in tow.
“This is what we see as the future,” said Joe Wilson, chief operating officer of Parx Racing, before the racetrack-casino’s Parx Malvern location opened in February 2022. “Chickie’s & Pete’s has a great customer base, a sports bar with great food. … It’s just a perfect marriage of sports, good food and drink, and horse racing.”
Like all too many marriages though, it didn’t last. While there was much publicity about it when Parx Malvern opened in a shopping plaza in Chester County, the betting operation quietly closed two months ago without any attention paid.
An internet search by Sports Handle could find no media report of the OTB’s shutdown, but the end of a short-lived era became evident last week when the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s revenue report for October listed just 18 instead of 19 retail sports betting sites. For the first time in 20 months, Parx Malvern was omitted.
Asked for explanation, gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach said, “Parx did request it to close and the last sports wagering revenue report from Parx Malvern was the week ending September10.”
Parx officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Small but potentially meaningful 4f4w3c
The demise of such a small operation within the realm of Pennsylvania sports betting is not in and of itself a major event. It is a state where 93% of the $7.2 billion in legal wagering that took place in the most recent fiscal year came via betting apps rather than people wanting to place a bet in person.
And even within the $519.5 million in retail betting at 16 casinos and three OTBs, the Parx venue connected to Chickie’s & Pete’s was small fry. It took $4.1 million in bets last fiscal year, while Parx’s bigger, older South Philadelphia Race and Sportsbook took $19.6 million and the sportsbook at the Parx Casino in Bucks County handled $73.8 million.
So in financial , the loss is but a footnote in of impact on Pennsylvania’s sportsbook industry. From another standpoint, however, it seems to squelch the idea there was an additional niche to fill with a different kind of betting parlor.
When casino officials first announced the partnership with Chickie’s & Pete’s, whose 20 or restaurants include one within the large Parx Casino itself in Bucks County, they said they hoped the Malvern location would be the first of multiple such sites around the state. It was the only such gambling venue based at a restaurant.
In a phone conversation Tuesday, a Chickie’s & Pete’s manager said the restaurant itself is doing fine, continues to operate, and had nothing to do with the decision by Parx, which separately staffed and ran the sportsbook/racebook. He said he could see his customers were betting while visiting to dine, but the level of such activity was nothing like one would see in a casino.
When the OTB site opened on the basis of being staffed 11 or more hours a day, Parx officials said it would provide full- or part-time jobs for 12 to 16 individuals involved in taking bets or manning the security checkpoint to make sure no one under 21 gained access. They projected an annual cost of $1.4 million to operate the facility.
The state’s revenue reports show it was pulling in revenue of $40,000 to $50,000 most months from what bettors lost, which varied depending on the season. That wouldn’t have covered the cost projection, and it may simply have been that Parx decided it was time to pull the plug on the venture in September to cut its losses — even willing to miss out on a football season that customarily brings more bets than at any other time.
When Wilson outlined hopes for the sportsbook/restaurant collaboration to the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission, he touted the synergy, explaining, “Nobody wants to walk into an empty bar. It’s the same way with an OTB.”
In this case, however, it appears the OTB itself was just too empty too often in a gamble by the casino that didn’t pay off.
