MGM National Harbor dropped off 13 boxes Thursday at the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency in Baltimore containing its bid to build what could be an $800 million casino in Prince George's County.

Details about MGM's bid won't be released until later Friday after the 2 p.m. deadline passes to submit bids for what would be state's sixth casino. The agency will release information about proposals once it has reviewed them to make sure they are complete and accurate, said Carole Everett, director of communications for the agency.

MGM is expected to have competition from Penn National Gaming Inc., which spent $44 million trying to defeat last November's referendum to add a sixth casino in Maryland. The owner of Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's reported in a recent regulatory filing that it intended to bid for the Prince George's casino license, although it wasn't confident of the outcome.

No other company has said it might submit a bid.

While MGM could not release details about its proposal because of state restrictions, Lorenzo Creighton, president and chief operating officer of MGM National Harbor, said the company stands by commitments made last year as it campaigned to expand gambling in Maryland, including bringing thousands of jobs to the area.

Last June, MGM Resorts International chairman and CEO James J. Murren said the company was willing to invest about $600 million in a casino at National Harbor. That's on top of $200 million expected from Peterson Cos., owner of the resort and conference center development along the Potomac River.

The casino could have about 200 table games and 4,000 slot machines, Murren said at the time, making it the state's second-largest behind Maryland Live Casino in Anne Arundel County.

"We're living up to our commitment," Creighton said about noon outside the gaming control agency's offices. "It will be a world-class resort very similar to what we built" elsewhere.

MGM, the world's largest casino operator, said the National Harbor property would be designed and operated similarly to its other hotels, such as the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mirage in Las Vegas.

Creighton said the National Harbor location off Interstate 95 is attractive, with 300,000 cars per day going by the site and as many as 20 million tourists annually visiting the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

"The marketplace is phenomenal," Creighton said. "The economics here are really solid, and it fits well with the type of resorts we build."

MGM's bid was several hundred pages long and submitted in 13 boxes — one original and a dozen copies.

The stakes are high for Penn National. Failing to win the license, it said in the regulatory filing, would hurt its finances because of new competition for its Hollywood Casino Perryville and Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.

Penn National's Cecil County casino has struggled since Maryland Live opened last June. Despite adding 20 table games in early March, Hollywood Casino Perryville continues to see revenue drop. In April, it took in nearly $8.44 million, down from $10.7 million a year earlier.

The gaming control agency is expected to award the bid at the end of this year. The casino cannot open until 2016.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

twitter.com/eileenambrose

Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts