The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, is hoping to be the next big gambling city in the U.S.  City officials have been courting some heavyweight casinos recently in an attempt to get them to settle down on a prime piece of property on the Delaware River.

Harrah's Entertainment was very interested in the proposal, and was looking as if they were going to set something up when it was revealed that Harrah's made a deal with nearby Chester, PA that had conditions keeping the gambling giant from creating competition for a nearby slots track.  Harrah's is obligated to back down from the current offer for the time being.

It seems that Harrahs Entertainment's quest for worldwide expansion will have to stay clear of Philadelphia, where there was some talks of putting up a large casino.  Harrah's was looking to put up a casino on a prime cut of property located on the Deleware River on the highly busy S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., which was - and still is - being openly welcomed by the Mayor and city delegates.

The reason Harrah's cannot officially put up the casino is not because of a lack of cooperation with city officials, but rather, because of a contract that Harrah's signed some time ago in the past.  Not too far from the proposed casino site is the city of Chester.  This is where a racing track and slots hall is located, which Harrah's incidentally bought into.  Part of the agreement that Harrah's made when the buy-in took place, was that Harrah's would not create competition with the betting track.

Senior VP of Harrah's, Jan Jones, stated that Harrah's is in no way interested in getting around or violating its agreement with Chester.  However, she also commented that Philadelphia poses as a very lucrative market for a large casino, which the company is still very interested in accommodating. This surely seems to be the case according to a report penned up by Philadelphia city planners, who notated that a casino located at the property on S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. could potentially bring in over $330 in casino gambling revenue.

The city of Brotherly Love still plans to draw in and court potential casino operators with clout like Harrah's.  And although losing Harrah's would mean losing substantial amounts of potential tax income, the city still openly seeks to bring big-time gambling to its streets.

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