When Rocky Balboa is taking sides, you know this week's casino hearings are going to be a battle of heavyweights.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board started hearing final proposals from the 13 groups vying for five licenses to operate slots parlors in the state.
The hearings began with pitches from the five investment groups competing for the two Philadelphia licenses.
And the earnings potential of the Philadelphia site - the City of Brotherly Love will become the largest city in the country with casinos - brought out all the stars.
Planet Hollywood's Riverwalk Casino showcased a video testimony from Rocky star Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis as part of their presentation, while Foxwoods Casino brought singer Quincy Jones to Harrisburg in person to spruce up its proposal.
Even Michael Jordan - the former NBA star with a history of racking up enormous gambling losses - has been connected to the proposed Pinnacle Entertainment site in the Fishtown area along the Delaware riverfront.
Yesterday, the board heard Pinnacle's proposal - the last of the Philadelphia plans - and will move on to pitches from groups in the rest of the state before convening to vote Dec. 20.
Spokesman Doug Harbach said that the board will consider a number of factors in deciding to award the two licenses in the city, including applicants' plans for maintaining a diverse workforce, ability to produce revenue, possible effects on the surrounding community, character issues and efforts to fight gambling addiction.
But anti-casino community activists worry that the board will ultimately place profits above neighborhood concerns.
"They're trying to pick the casino that will make the most money," said Irv Ackelsberg, who serves as a spokesman for the Multi-Community Alliance group, which opposes the proposed location of a Donald Trump casino in North Philadelphia. "We end up being just a dot on the map that will make a lot of money for Trump and for the state."
Riverfront Communities United spokeswoman Rene Goodwin added that the Foxwoods location on Columbus Boulevard is "absolutely the wrong site."
"I will never say there is a good site," Goodwin said. "But if there is not a good site, this is the worst site."
