Presque Isle Downs close to launching sportsbook

At the beginning of this year, Presque Isle Downs & Casino approached the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) in an effort to be approved for a sports gambling license. It didn’t take long for that license to be issued and, four months later, the Churchill Downs-owned property is almost ready to launch its sportsbook.

Presque Isle, which is located in Erie, Pennsylvania, has been meticulously upgrading its casino floor to offer the activity. Several of its regional competitors were able to get their sportsbooks up and running within about two months of receiving approval, but Presque Isle has decided that it wanted to offer something unique, and that required more time.

The new sportsbook will reportedly cover space that was previously occupied by the casino’s slot machines, and which measures 1,275. The slots were relegated to other areas of the gaming floor in order to allow the sportsbook in. It is near the venue’s poker room and simulcast area, but sports gambling won’t be limited to just the one space.

There are going to be 50 self-betting kiosks, of which about 25 are expected to be located inside Presque Isle. These will be managed by KT Group Limited, which received a provisional license from the PGCB last week. That license issuance was one of the last remaining hurdles to be jumped before the sportsbook could go live.