Presque Isle Downs
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Presque Isle Downs & Casino is a
casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
and horse racing track near
Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...
, owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc.


History

The developer,
MTR Gaming Group MTR Gaming Group was a gaming company based in Chester, West Virginia that operated horse racing tracks and racinos. It was formed on March 7, 1988, in Wilmington, Delaware. On September 19, 2014, it merged with Eldorado Holdco LLC, forming El ...
, broke ground in October 2005 for the new facility, which opened on February 28, 2007.
Simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
ing was transferred from its former upper
Peach Street The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...
location and became operational in August 2007. In January 2019,
Eldorado Resorts Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corporat ...
(the successor of MTR Gaming) sold the property to Churchill Downs Inc. for $178.9 million.


Description

The casino contains 1,500
slot machines A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine ( Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively ...
. The oval track opened on September 2, 2007. The racing surface is the synthetic material Tapeta Footings (a mixture of
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...
,
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
,
fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...
with a
wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to giv ...
coating). It was the first synthetic horse racetrack longer than in the Northeast and the first racetrack paved with Tapeta in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playin ...
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
is split between the operator (45%) and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
(55%), the latter of which will use the funds for property tax relief, economic development and tourism, and the horse racing industry. Revenue from table games goes to the state's general fund and the local government. Presque Isle Downs & Casino now operates table games, along with 1,600 slot machines. On February 6, 2019, the
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, founded in 2004 as the state licensing and the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing slot machines and casino gambling in the state. The ...
approved a
sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
license for Presque Isle Downs & Casino. The casino will construct a
sportsbook In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book (sometimes abbreviated as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, ...
and will also offer 50 self-betting kiosks. The BetAmerica self-betting kiosks began operation on August 9, 2019. On December 16, 2019, a three-day soft launch began for the BetAmerica online sportsbook. The full launch of the BetAmerica online sportsbook occurred on December 19, 2019. The property is located on off Exit 27 on Interstate 90 in Summit Township.


Graded events

The following Graded events were held at Presque Isle Downs in 2019. Grade II * Presque Isle Downs Masters StakesBlood Horse: 2011 Graded Stakes: 13 Fewer Than '10
/ref> ;Other Stakes * Presque Isle Mile *
Tom Ridge Stakes The Tom Ridge Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania. First run in 2007, it was originally known as the Tom Ridge Labor Day Stakes when it was run the first two years on La ...
* Satin and Lace Stakes * Karl Boyes Memorial Stakes * The HPBA Stakes * Fitz Dixon, JR. Memorial Juvenile Stakes


See also

* Gambling in Pennsylvania


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Presque Isle Downs and Casino Buildings and structures in Erie County, Pennsylvania Horse racing venues in Pennsylvania Sports venues in Pennsylvania Sports in Erie, Pennsylvania Casinos in Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 2007 Tourist attractions in Erie County, Pennsylvania Churchill Downs Incorporated