After Bally’s Flees, State College Casino Near Penn State University Finds Partner
Posted on: March 5, 2025, 09:10h.
Last updated on: March 5, 2025, 10:19h.
- Saratoga Casino Holdings will help develop a casino in State College, Pa.
- The casino will be near Penn State University
- Much of the community is opposed to the gaming project
The more than $100 million casino project greenlit for State College, Pa., only miles from Beaver Stadium and Penn State’s University Park Main Campus has found a new partner.
SC Gaming OpCo, the LLC formed by real estate developer Ira Lubert, a Penn State alumnus and former chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, revealed on Tuesday a partnership with Saratoga Casino Holdings to “develop and manage” the Category 4 mini-casino at the Nittany Mall. Saratoga is a New York-based, family-owned racing and gaming company that runs the Saratoga Casino Hotel in New York’s Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Casino Black Hawk in Colorado, and Magnolia Bluffs Casino Hotel along the Mississippi River in Natchez.
We are excited to partner with SC Gaming and expand our footprint into the competitive Pennsylvania gaming market,” said Sam Gerrity, CEO of Saratoga Casino Holdings, which his family owns. “This collaboration will allow us to leverage each of our strengths and deliver an unparalleled experience to our customers.”
SC Gaming and Saratoga will renovate a former Macy’s department store located only a few miles from Pennsylvania’s largest college.
“After years of delays, we’re overjoyed to be finally moving into active construction,” said Eric Pearson, CEO of SC Gaming.
Terms of the partnership weren’t disclosed.
Bally’s Exit
Lubert is a controversial figure in the close State College community.
Though he donated $10 million to the ongoing Beaver Stadium renovation project, Lubert was also among the trustees who in November 2011 voted to fire beloved football coach Joe Paterno amid the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Lubert’s push to bring a casino to State College has only garnered him more foes.
The Centre County community is overwhelmingly opposed to the Nittany Mall casino, but because the College Township Council didn’t opt out of being considered for a gaming development when it had the chance, there’s little to stop Lubert from bringing slot machines, live dealer table games, and sports betting to Happy Valley.
After Lubert won the Cat. 4 casino right with a $10 million bid during the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s (PGCB) September 2020 auction, the real estate tycoon announced a partnership with Bally’s Corp. to help him develop and operate the facility. Bally’s exited the project last fall.
Bally’s said it would be focusing on “other priorities,” specifically its $1.7 billion Chicago casino.
There are also rumblings around town that Bally’s folded on State College because of its close ties to Gaming & Leisure Properties (GLPI), the real estate investment trust controlled by Penn Entertainment. GLPI is led by Peter Carlino, the founder of Penn Entertainment and a 1969 graduate of Penn State University. GLPI’s COO is Brandon Moore, a 1996 PSU grad.
Speculation has risen that Carlino and Moore had little appetite to help bring a casino to State College. GLPI is bankrolling Bally’s Chicago investment, though the landlord had no involvement in the Nittany Mall project. It’s worth noting that none of the rumors regarding GLPI having any involvement in Bally’s leaving the State College project have been proven.
Saratoga Bidding in New York
In addition to State College, Saratoga Casino Holdings is hoping to enter the downstate New York gaming market by way of Brooklyn. Saratoga is part of a consortium pitching a multibillion-dollar entertainment complex in Coney Island along with Thor Equities, the Chickasaw Nation, and Legends Hospitality.
Pearson said Saratoga is an ideal partner for SC Gaming’s central Pennsylvania casino.
“After an intensive and expansive evaluation process, we’ve found the right partner with Saratoga, who shares our core values and a strong focus on guest experience. The pending partnership will help us build a casino the community can be proud of,” Pearson said.
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Last Comments ( 26 )
Suzanne, brought in over $2billion in tax revenue for the state of PA in 2024 and employees thousands so don’t try to paint them a picture of parasites. What have you don’t for the citizens of PA Suzanne? I cannot wait till the casino opens. I hope it brings Suzanne nothing but traffic and headache. Respectfully, Don
State College and the surrounding villages and towns is a place where education. sports, and outdoors activities thrive. We have a lively arts and music scene, many great places to eat and share a drink with friends, and enviable schools and health care systems for everyone. Of course, Penn State's world-class main campus for our 40,000+ graduate and undergraduate students is a huge benefit for the whole town and the many visitors that come here for events and for vacations. In an area of Pennsylvania where population is aging and employment is sparse, the State College area is providing opportunities for well-paid jobs in every type of career from plumbing to teaching, from construction to small businesses. It is now growing by leaps and bounds with new housing developments for young professionals, families, and senior citizens. Now you tell me what a 24/7 casino is going to add to all the positive growth in our community? My answer: Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Unless you think your kids need the experience of losing their college funds in a slot machine! Or unless you're okay with adding crime to the "benefits" of living in State College. Seriously, we all know why casino developers want to bring a casino to State College: It's a wealthy town they can suck on, especially the ever-renewable resource of young, naive students. Because casino owners don't give anything: They are grifters and parasites, dragging along with them their scummy fellow travelers: Drug dealers, pimps with their van-loads of under-age sex workers, car thieves, criminal gangs, and scammers. Please join me in opposing the addition of a casino in the Nittany Mall. Nobody with a brain wants this black hole of wretchedness in the middle of our community. Thank you for making your voice heard.
And stop with the phoney concern for the poor students of PSU. The only time y'all pretend to care about them is when it suits some agenda you have. The rest of the time is spent squeezing every penny you can out of them.
Ya know I think there is more outrage by the citizens of state college about this casino than there was when you all found out your old football coach is a pedophile and your current football coach tried to cover up a racially motivated gang rape. Stay classy state college, stay classy.
Choosing to build a 24/7 casino in State College, PA was a terrible business decision. When the Nittany Mall casino fails, those same business decision-makers will be disappointed as they realize they pursued an unrealistic dream of finding casino success in Happy Valley. They forgot to factor in that in 2025 bragging about online sports gambling successful is thrilling. Telling your friends you spent hours in a casino will only result in watching them roll their eyes. These days it is "not cool" to brag about spending your weekend evenings at a casino. Celebrating online wagering victories by the Nittany Lions and the Steelers is way more cool! There will be smiles and high-fives all around! Casino gambling? Not so much! Also, parents of Penn State students never anticipated their kids would develop a gambling addiction. Not even once! Most family bailouts to undergrads will probably only take place once or twice. Parents will say "We didn't send you to Penn State for this!" When the casino's regular customers eventually lose their 401k's, retirement accounts, savings accounts, and favorable FICO credit scores those folks do not bounce right back, recover their losses and hope to become prosperous again. Nobody gets rich twice. Maxed out credit cards do not go unnoticed now and they never did.
If Saratoga Casino Holdings did their due diligence before partnering with Ira Lubert, they would have first thoroughly reviewed the SayNoCasino org website. Over 100 local Letters to the Editor are included there. Happy Valley does not want or welcome a 24/7 gambling venue in State College. The Nittany Mall casino developers forgot to factor in the simple truth that the residents of our community know better than to throw away their hard-earned money by spending hours at casino table games and charming slot machines. Table game minimums of $10 or more per hand will discourage the folks who drive to another gas station right now to save ten cents on a gallon of gas. On weekend nights those table minimums might be dialed up to $25 per hand. Oh my, nobody mentioned that before in our bucolic college town! The eventual financial downfall of the casino in Happy Valley will be attributed to competition from the 24/7 online gambling we see continually advertised on television every day. Financial failure of the casino will be very likely because we can use our phones 24/7 for those slot machines thrills right now. Nobody needs to know that lots of folks gamble online daily with their phones during their normal working hours. An unanticipated but inevitable surprise will be realized by early 2027 when the Nittany Mall casino floor becomes an empty ghost town between the hours of 2 am and 2 pm. In Happy Valley, casino patrons need to go to work in the morning. Make a note of this now and then anticipate watching it all unfold in 2027. Happy Valley has very little in common with Saratoga Springs. Just watch.
The exit of Bally's should serve as a red flag warning for any other casino developers, evidence that State College is not a welcoming environment for their gambling business. One would think that investors in Saratoga Casino Holdings LLC would do their due diligence and urge the company to look elsewhere.
There are numerous reasons why Bally dropped their relationship with the proposed casino in State College. Not the least of which is the large community objections to the casino being in a small college town. We object to the casino because it is not a good environment for college students, it is not good for citizens who live here and it is not needed except for investors to line their pockets. Please drop your support for the casino. We don't want it here.
The ones that are putting this junk casino in only care about one thing, and that's making their hip pockets FATTER. They don't care about the victims. It will be one place I will never go in.
Here come all the casino cry-babies. It’s a casino. If college students, who are of age, want to gamble, let them. They can already play the lottery. God forbid we treat adults as adults. UPenn, which is PSU isn’t even in the same league with, has a casino less than five miles away and yet students graduate and aren’t gambling addicts. If you’re really worried about the moral compass of the area, how about all the underage drinking going on? Or the use of recreational drugs? The PSU campus is a cesspool of sin! I cannot wait till it opens. I hope the devil himself comes to the opening. Respectfully, Don.
Please reconsider and cancel your interest. In the Casino. So many including me are opposed; we do not need Penn State students and others who should not be gambling attending and possibly losing their money and/or becoming addicted. Think twice-Bally’s canceled. Please join their decision.
Saratoga Casino Holdings, CEO Sam Gerrity, his senior executives, and his staff from top to bottom, will feel the cold, unwelcome, unrelenting draft from the State College, Pa. local populace, once they begin operations. Mr. Gerrity, you and yours are unwanted and uninvited in this town. Accepting to partner in a casino, 2.9 miles away from the Penn State flagship campus, is a garish, unconscionable decision. Pull out while you still can.
I agree with Andrew, our community does NOT support a casino. It is not welcome here, thus an unwise investment by Saratoga Casino Holdings.
It took a while, but Bally’s finally understood that the greater State College area does not want a casino in the area. They withdrew from the agreement with Ira Lubert. My hope is that Saratoga Casino Holdings will quickly understand how strong the anti-casino sentiment is in this area and will also withdraw from this project. The negative impact of casinos is well documented. To be associated with such an enterprise where the activity is not wanted, is not a plus for the reputation of SCH. The announcement of SCHs withdrawal will be met with much satisfaction.
Bally's made the smart move by exiting its partnership with Ira Lubert - apart from possible pressure from GLPI, they also recognized that the Penn State community strongly opposes hosting a casino, and they didn't want the reputational damage and regulatory scrutiny that would inevitably come with getting large numbers of Penn State students addicted to gambling. Additionally, Bally's recognized that the Pennsylvania casino market is already saturated and that its revenues are being cannibalized by sports betting and online gambling. The leaders of Saratoga Casino Holdings would be wise to recognize that the many good reasons that Bally's had to bail out of this casino development are equally applicable to themselves.