How about parks?
I will not.
You could ask them that.
I'm sorry.
I'm not now.
And you actually said some of the things I was going to ask you about.
I mean, anybody can walk.
You can sit in your home nowadays and gamble.
That's correct.
You don't have to call a bookie.
You can legitimately call, get that FanDuel or whatever it's called.
I don't use it.
Which is probably going on in your establishment now anyway.
Which is probably going on in your establishment now anyway, I would assume, in any bar for that matter.
I would assume in any board.
Yeah, you think people are on Facebook, they're not.
That's what I was trying to say.
And 80%, I think, of all bets are made online.
They can speak to that better than I can.
So we're talking about obviously going from 36,000 square feet to 2,600 square feet.
Obviously, it's not going to be that big of a deal compared to what it was.
because the the live casino is going to be putting in a giant sports bar beautiful with
the best screens and it's going to be a sports book and it's going to be open 24 hours a day
and now that's who i have to compete against when you say it's high end is there a fee
involved or is it uh is it open for anyone it's open to the public but of course you'll in the uh
I don't know if you'll get to them today, but I know the architect's home is there.
That'll be in the presentation.
All right.
Presentation.
You'll see what it looks like.
It's not going to look like the turf club.
Yeah, understood.
That's why we're-
It's going to be beautiful.
We've got to compete with the live casino.
I have a question, Mr. Chairman.
Am I to understand that's going to be Chick and Pete's food that will be served back there
as well?
Absolutely.
only okay that's the whole idea behind it okay i wanted to make sure it's going to be crab fries
mussels all the things it's going to be only served by chickie and pete's thank you they're
just renting a portion of your your your space to run this operation that is correct okay all right
thank you i just want to make it clear mr chairman the people that work at the sports book are parks
employees not chickies and pizza yeah i got that that's why thank you i just was curious and when
we get to them i will know how many employees we're talking about correct um pete will will
the uh cars race and sportsbook interfere with your restaurant and sports bar um no it will
complement it but it will not interfere we're still going to operate chicken piece like chicken
pizza it doesn't change us at all it's just an extra 2600 square feet that we're able to lease
out without putting an outdoor and if it wasn't for them coming through the restaurant i wouldn't
even do it but at least we can get some business by people coming through and going back to the
to the area to uh to wager and will the overall size of chickies and pete's and the sports book
will that change from what it is today your 22,855 square feet will that increase with the
The overall size will not, but the seating capacity will change.
It will get smaller by like 83 seats.
Right.
So you're actually going to decrease your seating, like you said.
Why do you believe that this is a good fit for both parks and for Chicky and Pete?
Well, nobody that bets sports doesn't watch sports.
I mean, they go hand in hand.
Like we've said a couple of times during this, people will be betting,
and they're going to keep betting it it's i know it's new to everyone but it's here to stay
and it became it went into law two years ago so now it's all new and um i just think it'll be uh
a compliment complimentary to chickie and pete's we've been dealing with sports people watching
sports since 1977 i don't think anyone in the city of philadelphia has more experience than us
So sports bettors and sports watchers are the same people.
We believe we can keep those people at a very nice place, enjoying themselves, and possibly get some tourism.
And in your opinion, will this change in Chickies and Peeps and bringing parks in have any adverse impact on the neighborhood?
listen if i if i thought that it would have any adverse impact to the neighborhood i would not
do it i am a very big part of that neighborhood i i'm one of the founders of the 1492 society
puts on the parade every year with jay agnes and and lu galdo and mark rago i mean i am a part of
that neighborhood as well as anybody else we we also have 318 employees at chickie and pete's
And let me just say that 127 of those 318 in 2020 are from zip codes 1-9-1-4-8 and 1-9-1-4-5.
I have 82 in 1-9-1-4-5 and 45 employees from 1-9-1-4-8.
So we're a very big part of that neighborhood.
And to do something adversely, it would affect me in more than just my business.
I have a lot of friends there, and I don't want to, and I wouldn't want to upset them.
I have a lot of friends there and I don't want to, and I wouldn't want to upset them.
For the board.
For the board members, 19148, 19145, is the, the boundaries are Tasker Street on the east side, south to the Navy Yard, including the Navy Yard, Broad Street to the river, and I believe 45 may start on Snyder Avenue.
who I could be wrong, on the west side to the Schuylkill River
and then south to the Navy Yard or points beyond.
I think that's somewhat close to the boundaries.
And I think you already testified to this,
but right now if somebody came into Chickie and Pete's
and they had DraftKings or FanDuel on their phone,
they could sit at Chickie and Pete's right now and bet on sports, correct?
That's correct.
It's a new kind of betting today, and people just – I'm sure they are if you were allowed to sit inside.
But I'm sure they are.
But not only that, now you can bet on who's going to score the next touchdown, who's going to get the next pass.
It's not like it was before where you would go to – you would make a phone call maybe, make a bet, and say, I'm going to bet on the Eagles.
And that's the end of the bet.
Now there's bets that go through the entire game.
So the entire game, who's going to win the third quarter?
Who's going to win the fourth quarter?
Who's going to win the coin toss?
Those are things you want to be there in person to make a bet for.
Or you could do it on your phone.
But it's a different kind of sports betting today.
And it's becoming more and more popular because it's now legal.
And will this change, bringing the sports book into Chickies and Pete's,
Will that bring any other form of gambling to Chickies and Peets?
There's no other form of gambling allowed.
And will there be slot machines or table games at Chickies and Peets?
Absolutely not.
That would require state legislation anyway.
That's not going to happen.
You have two casinos and that's it.
I'm sure the other casinos wouldn't be too happy about me putting that in there either.
Just wanted to make that clear, though, Mr. Chairman,
because I heard some rumors being sarcastic yeah understood anyway um and again there will be no
separate entrance to the race and sports book only through chickies and pete with my consider two
reasons my consideration to the neighborhood understanding that they would not be appreciative
of a storefront because I have a lot of room there to that isn't as busy it used to be as you
know um or may not know but having an entrance to the outside wasn't an option when i spoke to
the parks people they must come through my place for two reasons one i could hope hopefully they'll
buy something on the way through or but more importantly that they didn't have their own
entrance people coming in and out in and out they'd have to come through my front door through
by my host stand through my jurisdiction for them to consider going to the sports book
So I thought that that was my reason for doing it.
So we put it in the back left-hand corner with no entrance.
It does have a fire exit only.
Isn't it true that on the sidewalk that there's a new stand between your building and Packer Avenue
where there's a curb cut to enter the parking lot, that there's a new stand that sells lottery tickets?
There is.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Will the sports book be open any times other than when Chickies and Peets is open?
It cannot be open any other times in Chickies and Peets because Chickies and Peets has to be open to get in.
You have to come through our front doors again to get to the back room.
I just have a couple of final points, Pete.
Did you hear my opening comments?
I did.
And are they true and correct?
Yes, they are.
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman, for Mr. Sharaki at this time.
Does the board have any questions?
I want to thank the board for listening to me.
I appreciate your ear on this.
and uh chairman vice chairman and board members i appreciate your time thank you thank you
thank you i'd like to uh call on ron davis of parks casino next
mr davis
mr davis has been unmuted he's free to speak
Mr. Davis has been unmuted he's free to speak thank you good afternoon Mr. Davis please
identify yourself with a record name spell your name and I'll swear you in and let us
Let us know your affiliation with this application.
Mr. Davis, please unmute yourself.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
My name is Ronald W. Davis, R-O-N-A-L-D, W-D-A-V-I-S.
I'm Director of Diversity and Community Development for Parks Casino.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Medellin.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ron, how long have you been the Director of Diversity and Community Development at Parks?
In March, it will be 16 years.
I was one of the original hires by Parks to bring diversity, inclusion, equity, and community development to our product.
Thank you.
And could you explain to the board the community outreach programs Parks has that benefit the South Philadelphia community?
Yes, we are excited.
Our casino has an exemplary record of achievement in bringing community development to Philadelphia area in several ways.
One, our individual outreach to the community comes through partnerships.
And I must commend Pete for this innovative partnership that can lead to great benefits for the community.
Parks has given about $120 million over the years that have been open.
and we are very sensitive and we do a lot of outreach not only with money but with people
and we'll talk about that in a second but with Delaware Valley Crime Commission we're very
passionate about the Crime Commission and so much so we've given $130,000 and hosted this year at
poppies. They're very extensive and well done Crime Stopper lead program, Law Enforcement
Appreciation Day, where we recognize those who are outstanding in law enforcement. And we're
part of that. We're part of that board. The American Red Cross. I'm on the board of American
Red Cross locally and nationally. And so we do a lot of outreach with humanitarian and
And biomed, that's blood and disaster, for those who might not know.
Universal companies, we have a partnership with Kenny Gamble, with his Auden Reed High School, and with his schools.
We give scholarships.
In fact, we're planning a huge fundraiser for him here at Parks because we understand his mission.
OIC is another one of the beneficiaries of what we do.
A number of organizations like the NOMO Foundation, the chambers, it's Asian, Hispanic, and African-American chambers.
We're on their boards, and we give them considerable support through financial contributions, but more through our diversity programs.
We have established internally a program called Employee Resource Groups, ERGs, that work in tandem with us to reach out to the community.
So the benefit to the South Philadelphia area would be there.
We have women's leadership. We have veterans group. We have a group of people of color. We have LGBTQ. We have the people who have disabilities. So those are the kinds of things that we do along with outreach to the community itself.
So that's certainly part of our portfolio, but our attitude is that we are here in communities to enhance those communities.
We listen and we act and we're part of the communities that we serve and we build effective teams inside and outside the organization.
So that's our motto and the way we handle the vendor construction and community is, I believe.
The vendor construction and community is, I believe, exemplary. Our numbers are the highest of any casino because we don't look at a casino as just a casino, but we also look at service. We're servant leaders in helping the community.
So we bring that special outreach with Pete, who has done tremendous work in the South Philadelphia area and other areas, as we all know, to the table.
We also look for doing good.
We look at opportunities with other entities, and we'll talk about that in a second.