When Live! Casino Pittsburgh formally opens the 100,000-square-foot facility later this month, a team of former rivals will be at the helm.
Craig Clark was most recently president of Hard Rock Ottawa, which is owned jointly by the Seminole Tribe and the Rideau Carleton Raceway. Before that, he was the general manager of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh. Clark is a certified public accountant, coming to Live!’s new $150 million facility as the director of finance.
Clark joins General Manager Sean Sullivan, who previously served as the GM of the Meadows Racetrack & Casino, a Penn National Gaming facility in Western PA.
Plenty of Western PA Experience at Live!
Clark served seven years at Rivers Pittsburgh, ending in 2018, and this move returns him to Western PA after just two years in Ottawa. At Live! Pittsburgh, Clark is responsible for the finance department, which includes accounting, analytics, finance, scheduling, income and revenue audit, purchasing, warehousing, count rooms and the casino cage.
Clark understands the Western Pennsylvania market well and has more than 26 years of diversified experience in the casino industry. In addition to Rivers and Hard Rock, he’s been an executive at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, and Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York.
Along the way, he’s developed local partnerships with a community college to train casino dealers.
He has previously said his philosophy is to design programs around initiatives, provide opportunities and outlets for employees, and enhance the customer experience.
He and Sullivan have a combined 20 years of experience in the Western PA region. Sullivan was named the general manager for Live! Casino back in February.
Live! Pittsburgh opening details
The forthcoming property is in a rehabbed mall space in Westmoreland County and is technically a satellite mini-casino. The property is a project of the Cordish Companies, which is also developing a full-size Live! casino in South Philadelphia, adjacent to the city’s sports stadiums. Joe Billhimer oversees both properties as the Cordish Gaming Group‘s executive vice president.
Live! Casino Pittsburgh is scheduled to open on Nov. 24. There is a media preview on Nov. 12 without the public present. A ribbon-cutting follows Nov. 17, with test-run charity nights for invited guests. The formal opening for the public at large is at 6 p.m. on the 24th.
The location is approximately 30 miles from downtown Pittsburgh, directly off Route 30. Live! features 750 slots and approximately 30 live-action table games, plus a FanDuel Sportsbook. Live! has already launched an online casino, PlayLive! but an online sportsbook is still to come. Live! Philadelphia should open in early 2021.
Live! plans restaurant and bar experience
Live! plans nationally recognized restaurants and live entertainment venues, including Sports & Social Steel City, a sports restaurant, gaming venue and social lounge.
Guy Fieri, an Emmy-award winning chef, restaurateur, New York Times best-selling author and television personality, will open the American Kitchen + Bar in the facility.
Live! Casino is owned and managed by Stadium Casino Westmoreland RE LLC, an affiliate of the Cordish Companies of Baltimore.
Country-themed PBR bar coming next year
Next year, the facility will add the Professional Bull Rider Country Bar — PBR Pittsburgh‘s newest location — during the second phase of openings.
PBR will be located on the second floor of the facility and feature the area’s only professionally endorsed mechanical riding bull, private VIP booths and the best in country music.
“We want people to have fun at Live! Casino, and PBR Pittsburgh is going to make sure they do,” said Sullivan. “It’s going to be a remarkable venue. Keeping the safety of our guests top of mind, we can’t wait to welcome everyone to PBR for a first-class entertainment experience when it opens next year.”
Live! Casino is now hiring for positions at PBR Pittsburgh. For complete information and job listings, visit www.workatlive.com.
Lead image via Live! Pittsburgh.