Jackpot! Steve Wynn Plans a Casino for Philadelphia
Wynn Resorts, owned and controlled by casino mogul Steve Wynn, signed a deal with Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners to take over the development of a Philadelphia casino, thus planting the Wynn flag in the strategic mid-Atlantic region. Recently, Pennsylvania approved table games to add to its existing slot machine parlors, creating more full-fledged casinos. Already Pennsylvania slot machine revenue has surpassed Atlantic City's slot earnings.
Pennsylvania is now the likely successor to Atlantic City. Wynn Resorts' competition, Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian and Palazzo casinos in Las Vegas, last year opened a $743 million Sands Bethlehem casino in an old steel factory in Pennsylvania's rust belt. BNET also reported that the casino is raising about $1 million a day on its slots alone. (Las Vegas Sands also recently submitted an application to add table games.)
Wynn, who cut his teeth on Atlantic City casinos, left New Jersey in 1987 for Nevada where he created Mirage Resorts and the well-known Mirage, Bellagio and Treasure Island, that were later sold off to MGM for $6.6 billion in 2000. Wynn now owns and controls Wynn Resorts, which includes Wynn Las Vegas, Encore and its new Wynn Macau.
The partners include local investors and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. The Pequots, who also own Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, owned 30% of the casino, but sources say that Wynn will be a majority partner with 51%. The new Delaware River waterfront casino will also feature the Wynn name, a must for the state's Gaming Control Board.
Wynn has had an interest in the mid-Atlantic for a while now. In the 1990s, Wynn was burned for millions when he fought a losing battle with the Pequots to build a Connecticut casino. (The Pequots won and opened Foxwoods.) Now 15 years later, he's calling the shots and is better positioned in the market to create his vision, most likely a luxury casino resort bearing his name.
Photo: Wynn Resorts