Live Casino & Hotel Philadelphia is marking its fifth anniversary this month, as it officially opened its doors in February 2021.
Since its opening Live Casino has been a pillar in the South Philadelphia community, helping create thousands of jobs, generating millions in tax revenue for the state, as well as for the city.
To celebrate the anniversary, Live Casino held a luncheon and media event touting the impact the venue has been able to make in five years.
Ron Jaworski, who served as emcee of the event, said the opening of Live “marked the start of this incredible transformation of the Philadelphia Stadium District into an integrated sports entertaining and casino resort destination.”
To this end, he praised the venue for being “the only place in America where you can have gaming, a beautiful hotel room, dinner, and be within walking distance of four professional sports teams.”
Those responsible for bringing Live Casino to life have been very strategic from the very beginning.
“When we celebrated our grand opening on February 11, 2021, we made a promise that Live would be more than just a world-class gaming facility. It would be a true partner to the city,” said Joe Billhimer, chief operating & development officer at Cordish Gaming Group.
Live has held true to that promise, as since its opening, it has paid over $72 million in gaming and wage taxes to the city, $390 million in taxes to Pennsylvania, and $200 million in wages to its team members.
Among its other commitments was to ensure diversity in construction, procurement, and staffing.
To this end, Live has spent more than $155 million in local minority- and women-owned businesses.
“We wanted to make sure this project was diverse and inclusive,” said Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who represents the 2nd District that houses Live and its surrounding areas. “I’m proud to say those goals were met and surpassed.”
He then read a proclamation, congratulating Live for its fifth anniversary of community impact.
Looking ahead, Live isn’t planning to stop. The partners plan to continue banding together to ensure Live can continue to serve as an anchor of economic impact for the region.
“We don’t just develop projects. We invest in communities,” said Zed Smith, chief operating officer at The Cordish Companies. “We make decisions that have generational impact.”
Over the past five years, Live has welcomed more than 13 million guests, hosted over 2,000 events, and logged 5,000 volunteer hours in its surrounding neighborhoods.
All of that is done with a long-term vision.
“We’re here to stay. And the next five years will be even stronger,” Billhimer concluded.
