Remember when Cordish Gaming and Penn National Gaming were bitter rivals in Maryland (left) and more-cordial ones in Massachusetts? Well, that’s all so yesterday as the two are teaming up to get in on the New York State market. They’ve identified South Blooming Grove, in Orange County, as their site. It’s just off I-87, the major artery between the Five Boroughs and the Canadian border, which would put them closer to New York than any other applicant. No details are available other than it’s a $750 million, 120-acre project. Perhaps Blooming Grove residents will get the skinny when Penn and Cordish present their brainchild at a town meeting tonight.
They’re not stopping there, either. The two companies are also talking about partnering on a 
Hollywood-branded casino in the Albany area. (Whether the state will give two out of four casino licenses to the same operator remains very much to be seen.) Right now, they’re just kicking the tires on potential sites. Considering how Penn has vilified Cordish Cos., it’s pretty big of David Cordish to state, “Our companies are very familiar with one another and have a great deal of mutual respect.” Well, maybe they do now. It was not ever thus.
Social-gaming applications could soon be put in the shade. Illinois has deployed a state-lottery application and it’s received 128,000 downloads. (Purchases of tickets are capped at $3,500 per player.) No surprise, the developer of the software is lottery giant GTECH.
