Pennsylvania gaming regulators approved a change of ownership for Happy Valley Casino during a monthly meeting this week. Ownership of the upcoming casino property has shifted to Saratoga Casino Holdings from SC Gaming.
Saratoga now owns 60% of SC Gaming and assumes control of the development and management of the casino project.
The two sides agreed to the deal in March that became official on Wednesday.
New owner has experience in gambling industry
SC Gaming managed the project, including naming the facility “Happy Valley Casino,” up until the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) granted the ownership change this week.
SC Gaming paid a change-of-control fee of $1 million to the PGCB, which goes into Pennsylvania’s general fund.
Saratoga Casino Holdings is based in New York, where its flagship property, Saratoga Casino Hotel, resides. The property has nearly 1,200 slot machines and 89 electronic table games. The company also has gaming facilities in Mississippi and Colorado.
Saratoga COO Alex Tucker pointed out to the PGCB that the company gave back nearly $1 million to the Mississippi community where its Magnolia Bluffs Casino Hotel resides.
“A million dollars maybe, in some places, doesn’t get you very far, but $1 million in Natchez, MS, made a real statement. It showed that we wanted to be part of that community.
“That just goes to show what values we bring when we get involved with a property. We go all in.”
Happy Valley online casino?
Happy Valley Casino General Manager Eric Pearson said the casino might want to add online casino gaming or sports betting in the future, but that’s not part of the plans right now.
“For State College, it’s not part of our opening plans. Really, all of our efforts are focused on getting the brick-and-mortar casino built and opened as fast as possible.
“We’ve talked about our options with iGaming and sports betting, but strategically, we’ve made that a secondary priority. We’re open to participating in that if the right relationship comes along and if it makes sense for State College.”
Saratoga Casino Holdings has experience offering online sports betting in Colorado but does not have online casino experience.
Updates on Happy Valley Casino
Despite the change of ownership, Pearson remains the general manager of the new casino in State College. His executive team is comprised of:
- Jennifer Johnson, assistant general manager
- Veronica Ois, executive director of finance
- Eric Wise, director of surveillance
- Stacy Grissinger, executive assistant
Construction on Happy Valley Casino began in February, which took over a vacant Macy’s in the Nittany Mall. Pearson said the casino is slated to open in April 2026.
The property is expected to house 750 slots and 30 table games. Pearson said the casino will be smoke-free.
“I’ve had a lot of time to do analysis and watch trends in the market to see what my colleagues in the property have done in different locations, especially through the pandemic and smoking changes. It was able to give us a strong enough data set to have a high degree of confidence that allowing smoking inside is not mission-critical it what we needed to do.”
