While there is no denying the popularity of online wagering, the owners of Parx and Chickie’s and Pete’s in Malvern have gone all-in for the in-person alternative. Katie Kohler calculated the strategy’s odds for success in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The confidence in the preference for a live betting experience led to the opening of Parx Race & Sportsbook inside the Chickie’s & Pete’s in Malvern. It is the first race and sportsbook outside a casino or a racetrack in the nation.

The location offers something that online wagering does not: the experience of watching sports in public with all five senses engaged.

“We see this as the future for both retail sports wagering and sports betting,” said Joe Wilson, the chief operating officer of Parx Racing.

Wayne Kimmel, managing partner at SeventySix Capital in Conshohocken, agreed that “having a proper sportsbook inside of Chickie’s & Pete’s — the No. 1 sports bar restaurant in the United States — in a strip mall in the suburbs of Philadelphia is a big deal.”

It represents “the beginning of mainstreaming regulated legal sports betting in North America,” he added.

Read more about Chester County’s first sportsbook in The Philadelphia Inquirer.