Parx Casino has partnered with Chickie’s & Pete’s to launch what it calls the first off-track and sports betting operation located inside a Pennsylvania restaurant. Greenwood Racing officials cut the ribbon Wednesday before patrons at the company’s Parx Race & Sportsbook inside Chickie’s & Pete’s Malvern. This opening also marks the first licensed gaming outlet in Chester County.
“We’re happy to be able to come from Bucks County, which is home to us, and bring this over to Chester County,” said Marc Oppenheimer, Chief Marketing Officer of Greenwood Gaming, as reported by WHYY. “And the partnership with Pete [Ciaccrocchi, founder of Chickie’s and Pete’s] has been great. Malvern has been a great host community for us, and we’re looking forward to being able to bring a good time to the community.”
— Parx Sportsbook (@parxsportsbook) February 10, 2022
At the new 600-square-foot sportsbook, bettors will be able to place off-track bets on horse races as well as wager on pro and college sports inside the freshly opened 8,600-square-foot eatery at 10 Liberty Blvd. at the Grove Shopping Center. The roughly $200,000 sportsbook does not contain seats since bettors will primarily be watching games in the dining area of Chickie’s and Pete’s, said Oppenheimer. The sportsbook contains TVs, odds boards, betting kiosks, and teller windows so people can place live bets in person.
The sportsbook is only accessible to people age 21 and older. Bettors will use the Parx sportsbook app to open a player account where they can deposit funds and make withdrawals virtually, or they can have the in-person teller load money onto their account or cash out winnings, according to Philadelphia Business Journal. Parx, owned and operated by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc., runs the sportsbook component, which created about 15 jobs including management, security and tellers, while Chickie’s and Pete’s operates the food and beverage end of the concept and related hiring.
This partnership between the restaurant chain and the gambling company has been in the works for almost six years. The Malvern Chickie’s and Pete’s had its grand opening last week. Earlier this week, the site underwent testing by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
In the US, the concept of an in-restaurant sportsbook is already present in Washington D.C. since last year, when gaming and sports betting tech company Elys Game Technology opened sportsbook operations at Grand Central Restaurant. It has recently been granted approval from the DC Office of Lottery and Gaming to expand its sports betting offerings there.
