PGCB Fines MGM Resorts International $50,250 Over Late Filing

On 23 September 2026, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) approved a consent agreement fining MGM Resorts International $50,250 for failing to timely file a Principal Licensing application. The Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel (OEC) presented the settlement at the Board’s public monthly meeting. As of September 2026, the notice records a monetary fine only. It reports no licence suspension or revocation, and no appeal has been recorded.

What the Board said

The Board’s press release is short. It records the approval of two consent agreements presented by the OEC. The first is against MGM Resorts International. The second is against CountR GmbH, a German-based firm, for an unapproved change of control of its licence and for failure to pay required licensing fees. CountR agreed to pay $50,000 to settle its unpaid license.

The notice describes the MGM matter in one clause:

“MGM Resorts International, resulting in a fine of $50,250 for its failure to timely file a Principal Licensing application, and,”

The release does not cite a statutory or regulatory provision, and it does not say when the filing fell due or how late it was. It also does not say which MGM-affiliated licence or event triggered the filing duty. It states that copies of the approved consent agreements, which contain additional details, are available on request through the Board’s Office of Communications. Any analysis of the underlying trigger has to wait for that document.

The Board’s authority rests in the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act (Act 71) and its regulations. The release treats the failure as a licensing-process breach, not a conduct or player-protection failure. The matter ended as a negotiated settlement with a monetary penalty only.

What it signals for licensees

On the face of this release, the PGCB treats a late Principal Licensing filing as a sanctionable violation in its own right, with no suitability concern mentioned. The CountR matter, announced the same day, points the same way. An unapproved change of control and unpaid licensing fees were resolved through a consent agreement. This reading is analysis drawn from two short notices, not a stated Board policy.

In practice, licensees and their parent companies in Pennsylvania should maintain a calendar of every Principal Licensing filing obligation tied to ownership, officer or director changes, and map each one to a named internal owner. Corporate-level events such as board changes, financing or restructuring should be checked against the Board’s filing requirements before closing, not afterwards. Obtain the full text of the consent agreement from the Office of Communications to confirm the specific provision and timing. Consult qualified Pennsylvania gaming counsel on how the filing rules apply to your corporate structure. Profiles of other regulators and their licensing regimes are indexed in the jurisdictions atlas.

Matt Denney

Editorial · gamingcompliance.io

Reads the primary source so you don't have to. Fifteen years inside iGaming compliance: operator, supplier, and crown-corporation lottery.