MTR Gaming Bows Out of Pittsburgh

Another suitor has dropped out of the Pittsburgh slots casino race.  MTR Gaming, the high profile racetrack operator, is the second group to withdraw from the fight for one of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s limited slots casino licenses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The first bidder to step down was a Developer from Beaver County named Charles Batters.  He was pulling for a thoroughbred track in the Hays section of Pittsburgh, a section of town that many have recently decided unsuitable for building a casino. 

MTR announced their interest in obtaining one of Pittsburgh’s coming, free-standing casino licenses early this summer.  MTR’s chief executive officer, Edson “Ted” Arneult, declared that his casino would contribute 2% of their annual slots revenue toward construction for a brand new sports arena for the local NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.  This would have been approximately $6 million per year, of course, assuming they were granted the license to begin with. 

One of the major reasons for Arneault and MTR’s withdrawal was the Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. offer.  MTR believed they would have a hard time competing with the Isle of Capri proposal to build a $290 million dollar arena structure that housed both a casino and a new home for the Pittsburgh Penguins.  MTR has another project currently in the works, a thoroughbred racetrack called Presque Isle Downs, to be constructed in Erie.  Arneault’s spokesperson disclosed that the CEO decided it would be wise for MTR to focus their energies toward the racetrack. 

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