The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bally’s State College Casino last week, after years of court battles, which means the company can start to map out construction plans. During Bally’s Q2 2024 earnings call, it hinted at “the first half of 2025” to begin building the new casino.
Bally’s State College Casino is set to become the 18th casino in Pennsylvania, after SC Gaming’s Ira Lubert placed a bid that exceeded $10 million back in 2020, which beat out Stadium Casino.
The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, for correctly awarding the license to Bally’s.
Bally’s targets 2025 for construction plans
The PGCB awarded SC Gaming a mini-casino license in September 2020, over Stadium Casino, the owners of Live! Casino Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Stadium Casino immediately contested, claiming SC Gaming improperly made a bid on the property.
It took nearly four years for a decision to made. Bally’s can finally move forward. President of Bally’s, George Papanier, said during the call:
“Obviously, the lawsuits are behind us. We’re now focused on going through the process and obtaining the appropriate approvals with the PGCB. So we’re focused on that.
“And timing of construction probably won’t be until the first half of 2025 at this point. As part of that transaction, obviously, there’s a stage relative to arranging the financing for that. And so now that the court has ruled, we are now going through the whole developmental underwriting process and how we plan for that.”
What Papanier said on the call lines right up with what PGCB Director of Communications, Doug Harbach, told PlayPennsylvania last week:
“SC Gaming can proceed with the project unless there is another appeal to a higher court. The Board’s role now is to work with SC Gaming on the development of the project in following regulations and to monitor the process through the point of when they are prepared to hold test sessions and open to the public.”
PGCB ‘confident’ in its own process, prior to Supreme Court ruling
The PGCB’s decision to award SC Gaming a license had been nearly four years in the making. Stadium Casino alleged that Lubert “entered into all kinds of arrangements, several arrangements with other entities” after the bid, but before the application, which started the legal war.
However, neither SC Gaming nor the PGCB wavered, and the Supreme Court’s decision upheld the process.
“The Gaming Control Board was confident in the legal manner in which it awarded the Category 4 license in College Township, and we appreciate the ruling by the Supreme Court backing our process,” Harbach said last week. “We are pleased that this project can move forward and begin to generate tax dollars and provide employment in the future.”
Mini-casinos have been the new trend in Pennsylvania. Bally’s State College Casino will become the fifth since 2020, joining:
- Live! Casino Pittsburgh (November 2020)
- Hollywood Casino York (August 2021)
- Hollywood Casino Morgantown (December 2021)
- Parx Shippensburg (February 2023)
Bally’s State College Casino will also be able to help its online product, too, as it continues to build a strong presence in Pennsylvania.
