Pennsylvania Firm Might Buy Possible Md. Slots Site

Penn National Gaming, a major casino operator, is considering buying a site in Cecil County that could become one of five slots venues in Maryland and might throw its support behind a November referendum on legalizing the machines, a company official said yesterday.

The involvement of the Pennsylvania-based company could bolster the efforts of slots advocates when the owners of two Maryland racetracks that stand to benefit from the machines, Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County and Ocean Downs in Worcester County, have yet to publicly pledge money for the ballot measure.

"We're taking a very careful look at an opportunity in Cecil County," Eric Schippers, Penn National's vice president for public affairs, said in an interview. "We hope to identify a parcel of land where we could build a successful facility."

A representative of For Maryland for Our Future, a ballot-issue committee leading the pro-slots campaign, declined to comment yesterday on potential contributors to its efforts.

Penn National is one of the country's largest gaming companies, with casino-style operations and racetracks in the United States and Canada, including Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia.

The company made a play last year to buy Rosecroft Raceway, the struggling harness-racing track in Prince George's County. Penn National backed out after legislation passed under which the track would not be eligible for a slots license.

Maryland voters will decide in November whether to authorize as many as 15,000 slot machines in the city of Baltimore and the counties of Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester. Although racetracks in Anne Arundel and Worcester would be eligible to bid for licenses, there is no requirement that any of the slots venues be at tracks. A state commission would select the winning locations.

Under legislation passed last year, bidding for the Cecil license would be open to sites within two miles of Interstate 95. Schippers would not identify where in that corridor Penn National is looking for land. As many as 2,500 machines would be allowed at the Cecil location.

Although Penn National would not be guaranteed a license, Schippers suggested that it would be well positioned in the bidding process, given its record of operating gaming facilities.

The Cecil location, near the Pennsylvania and Delaware borders, is possibly the most open for bidding among the five potential sites.

Although neither Laurel Park nor Ocean Downs would automatically get a license, the legislation establishing the referendum was crafted with the tracks in mind. Laurel Park is within two miles of Route 295, a prerequisite for the Anne Arundel site. The Worcester site must be within a half-mile of an intersection of the Ocean Downs track.

Neither Magna Entertainment, which owns Laurel Park, nor William Rickman, a Potomac developer who owns Ocean Downs, has publicly pledged financial support for the ballot-issue committee campaigning to legalize slots.

Rickman said in March that his money might not be needed, given polls showing likely passage of the referendum. A spokesman for Magna cited the uncertainty of the bidding process as one reason the company had not decided whether to contribute financially.

Schippers said yesterday that he wanted to squelch any speculation that Penn National might contribute to the anti-slots movement in Maryland to protect its gambling operations in other states. "In no case are we going to be opposing the referendum," he said.