Press Room

Welcome to the Casino-Free Philadelphia press room. Casino-Free Philadelphia's mission is to stop casinos from coming to Philadelphia and close any that open. The social and economic costs of predatory gambling are plainly apparent from an industry reliant on addiction to survive.

Learn more about Casino-Free and its history.

Casino-Free Philadelphia operates on a simple media strategy: Tell the truth. As a result of that and our creative actions, we have received local, state, national, and international media in hundreds of news stories. Our message has been carried by CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today and numerous Philadelphia newspapers.

Press Inquiries: Please contact us using our online form; you can also contact spokesperson dan [at] casinofreephilly [dot] org (Dan Hajdo by email) or at (267) 971-0937.

Recent Press Releases

Blatstein’s Song and Dance Won’t Change Casino Business of Exploiting Gambling Addiction
October 24, 2012
PHILADELPHIA

As Bart Blatstein throws his “lavish launch party,” others, especially those who have to live next to the proposed casino, have been talking about how to stop it.  So, on November 12th, Casino-Free Philadelphia will host a meeting, along with the national organization Stop Predatory Gambling, to discuss casino development in Philadelphia.

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Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Announces Licensing Decision, Fails to Protect Public
July 11, 2012
PHILADELPHIA

 

Earlier today, July 11th, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced a call for applications for a second casino license in Philadelphia.

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Costs of Casino Detailed in Casino-Free Philadelphia Briefing
September 20, 2011
PHILADELPHIA

Nearly one year after SugarHouse casino opened, a briefing released by Casino-Free Philadelphia shows the costs to city residents in financial loss, personal indebtedness, and crime outweigh the benefits by 10 to 1.

"The numbers show a clear loss for Philadelphia and its residents," said Kaytee Riek, director of Casino-Free Philadelphia. "SugarHouse has done nothing more than siphon money out of the city to send to Chicago investors, and left Philly residents and the city to clean up the mess," Riek said.

View Casino-Free Philadelphia's report on SugarHouse.

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Recent Press Coverage

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Casino-Free Testimony

Casinos are widely opposed by both average residents of Philadelphia and experts knowledgeable about the issue. Browse our collected testimonies and interviews with those who hold a vision of a casino-free Philadelphia!

Messages of Support

As a society, we can't afford these casinos

The tyranny of casinos

Still time to derail the slots

Why is the mayor abandoning the mission of protecting the public?
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Our Current Campaign

Quicksand Credit

Danger: Quicksand Credit!SugarHouse casino, as well as most other casinos in the country, offer their customers unlimited lines of credit, which can only be used to gamble at the casino. There is no interest on the line of credit, and it must be paid back in 30 days.

The casinos call this a "convenience" so you don't have to carry large amounts of cash to the casino — but they'll happily give you more cash than you have. Having access to a line of credit makes a person more likely to keep playing — making SugarHouse's billionaire investors richer.

Billionaire investors tried payday loans to make money, but people saw through that scam. Then they tried sub-prime mortgages, and brought down the global economy. Now they're pushing quicksand credit.

In its first year of existence, SugarHouse has had numerous negative effects on Philadelphia and its residents — and quicksand credit is one of the worst causes.

Learn more about the campaign

Our Casino-Free Campaigns