State College Casino Has New Majority Ownership in Saratoga
Posted on: June 26, 2025, 09:55h.
Last updated on: June 30, 2025, 01:05h.
- The State College casino project in Pennsylvania will soon have a new majority owner
- Saratoga Casino Holdings is taking over the Nittany Mall project
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), subject to several pending conditions, approved the majority ownership transfer of the forthcoming State College casino being constructed at the Nittany Mall just miles from the Penn State University Park Main Campus.
Following a public hearing that ran about an hour and 10 minutes, state gaming regulators provisionally signed off on upstate New York-based Saratoga Casino Holdings becoming the majority owner of SC Gaming, the company that won the state’s September 2020 auction round for a Category 4 casino license with a $10,000,101 bid.
Ira Lubert, a Penn State alumnus and former chair of the university’s board of trustees, was the winning bidder behind SC Gaming OpCo, LLC, the entity that made the $10 million tender. After initially partnering with Bally’s Corp. to develop and manage the so-called “mini-casino” that can initially house up to 750 slot machines and 30 live-dealer table games, plus a sportsbook, Bally’s withdrew from the project last September to focus on its Chicago resort.
Lubert, who said following Bally’s exit that he had the financial resources “to independently develop and operate” the casino, chose to bring on Saratoga in a pact announced in March. The announcement included the terms that Lubert would sell a 60% majority stake in the enterprise.
Third Lubert Casino Investment
Lubert is skilled in taking advantage of Pennsylvania’s ownership and casino category laws. Perhaps no individual has made more money off the state’s 2017 expansion of gaming, which authorized Cat. 4 mini-casinos and allowed “resort” casinos to expand their operations at greatly discounted entry costs compared with full-scale casinos.
Lubert was part of the development team of one such Cat. 3 resort in Valley Forge Casino Resort. In 2012, the firm paid the state a $5 million licensing fee to bring 500 slots to the property, which took the place of the hotel’s former convention center.
Opened for $132.5 million, the Category 3 Valley Forge Casino Resort license allowed only hotel and/or property guests, along with patrons who purchased memberships, to gamble. The 2017 expansion allowed Cat. 3 casinos to remove their entry limitations for $1 million, expand their gaming operations to include table games for $1 million, and add another 250 slot machines for $2.5 million.
While Cat. 1 and 2 casinos in Pennsylvania paid $50 million each for slots and table game privileges, Lubert’s Valley Forge paid about $9.5 million. Though the resort can only operate up to 850 slot machines and 50 tables, considerably fewer than the Cat. 1 and 2 casinos, Valley Forge’s expansion made the property attractive for acquisition.
In 2018, just months after Pennsylvania lawmakers and then-Gov. Tom Wolf (D) signed the 2017 gaming expansion, Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming paid Lubert and his Valley Forge co-owners $281 million for the King of Prussia property.
Lubert, who was also an early investor in what became Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, saw yet another opportunity in the state’s authorization of Cat. 4 casinos. After bidding ran dry for the satellite properties and the PGCB welcomed in individual stakeholders in slot licenses, Lubert bid and formed an entity called SC Gaming OpCo, LLC, for his casino in State College, home to College Township, which didn’t opt out of being considered for a satellite gaming property.
Baltimore-based Cordish Companies, which was outbid by Lubert during the September 2020 auction, unsuccessfully contested that Lubert wasn’t the lone investor in SC Gaming OpCo but had orchestrated a scheme with partners who weren’t qualified to participate. In the case that reached the state Supreme Court, the judicial finding was that Lubert retained full control of the LLC despite “various individuals and entities” contributing funds toward the $10 million winning bid payment.
SC Gaming Finds New Partner
Lubert and SC Gaming repeatedly said they weren’t looking to immediately transfer the ownership of the College Township casino license. But on Wednesday, they presented the PGCB with a new ownership structure, with a new entity — SC Gaming HoldCo, LLC — with Saratoga possessing 60% of the enterprise and SC Gaming, LLC, retaining the remaining 40%.
The PGCB didn’t raise many concerns about the new arrangement, which will result in the state receiving a $1 million change-of-control fee. They instead focused most on why Saratoga and SC Gaming aren’t including plans for a physical sportsbook (mobile sports betting is legal in Pennsylvania).
Pennsylvania’s 2017 gaming expansion only allowed for the state’s slots licensees and significant stakeholders to seek Cat. 4 casino privileges. Now, Saratoga, a company that has never operated a slot in the commonwealth, is the majority owner of one such permit.
Last Comments ( 122 )
As a local resident of State College. Our community is opposed to a casino opening in our town and regulators know this. We will not patronize the casino. We don’t need the crime and addiction the casino will bring. And it was a bad idea to approve a casino plan in a town based around a large student population who cannot afford to lose their money to gambling. Simply put, we don't want it.
The casino's developers and Saratoga Casino Holdings, LLC leadership have completely ignored the single point of eventual failure the casino will experience about six months after the grand opening. The community members of State College do not want a casino just four miles away from the main campus of Penn State University. Strong community opposition has continued to be unwavering since 2021 and it remains that way today. See for yourself at the SayNoCasino website. The future reason for empty chairs in front of the slot machines is the same reason the parking lot will be consistently vacant. Penn State students will continue to enthusiastically bet on sports and casino games with their phones. Oh, and the casino's leadership has no plan to put a sportsbook in the Nittany Mall casino either! Penn Staters are not about to spend their evenings in front of a slot machine at the ill-conceived and unpopular "Happy Valley Casino" built inside a former Macy's department store. The folks in their Penn State student peer groups will predictably roll their eyes immediately so don't expect to see Penn Staters rolling the dice. "Seven out, line away, pay the don’ts!" Folks who are foolish enough to roll those dice better learn EVERYTHING about every word of that before even thinking about approaching a craps table. Actually, "learn" is an understatement because they really need to be conversant about those specific details. Anyone betting their hard-earned money at a slot machine also better become familiar with random number generators and near misses. If they plan to spend hours playing slots they better be subject matter experts and completely up-to-speed about random number generators. Just watch as this all becomes an inconvenient truth. Trust me, it will by late 2026.
We do not want a casino. We will not patronize it and will tell friends and relatives not to come to it. A college town does not need a casino.
I get so sick when I hear what has taken place. I have been to the meetings from the first meeting. Mr. Lubert sat there and said he only wanted good things for State College. He has a house here, but most people don't know how many other houses he has. It is all about money. I told people he would be selling the casino as soon as it was up and running because that it what he did with the others he had. Well, he sold it before it was up and running. He is not going to have to live with what the Casino will bring to State College. We DO NOT NEED A CASINO. What we need is a good place for the teenagers to be able to have fun and it is not a casino. I keep praying that something will go wrong and this will not take place.
We do NOT want a casino. We do NOT see gambling as a sport or as harmless recreational activity. Gambling is destructive and inherently unfair to participants. Gambling damages place financial burdens on the frail infrastructure that tries to safeguard against poverty, domestic abuse and alcoholism. WE ARE PENN STATE and we are against a casino. Full stop. No profits from harming other people. No big need for lousy jobs within Casino Culture.
I think it is a really bad idea to have a casino in State College, which doesn't want it, and in close proximity to college students. Penn State already serves in the in loco parentis role for 40+ thousand 18 - 22 year olds. Trusting parents send their young and very easily influenced children here to continue their transition to adulthood. We already have enough challenges with this young population, many of whom are away from their parents for their first extended period. Why add another damaging vice that could hurt the success of the students and cause financial problems for those who cater to the student population for basic needs such as housing, etc. I could see student suicide rates skyrocket as students become addicted and are too afraid to let their parents know where the money went, etc. It is a recipe for disaster.
We don’t need a casino, we don’t want a casino in the area, we will not go there, and we will tell our friends and loved ones, especially young adults, to avoid going there and spending even a nickel.
Personally I don’t care who is the owner; State College does NOT need a casino. Gambling institutions are destructive. Many people become addicted after getting small wins and feed their winnings right back in the remote hope that the next attempt will be the jackpot. Gambling is not like other transactions. If you purchase a product or service, you have a win-win arrangement. The seller gets the money he needs and the buyer gets the product or service he needs. Both are winners. With gambling winners are always at the expense of the losers. In th the end, the house always wins. Gambling institutions tend to attract criminal enterprises such as prostitution, drug dealing and related “services”. Look how Atlantic City declined following their choice to become LasVegas East. Please resist this dangerous intrusion into our neighborhoods.
I am so disappointed at the folks who are behind this and the officials who are allowing this to go forward. This has NO PLACE in a family friendly college town. I will continue active opposition in whatever way I can.
We do not want your Happy Valley Casino in our community. Shame on you Ira and cohorts for lining your pockets off of predatory gambling. How much is enough for you!
The gaming industry has enough of a hold on citizens everywhere. We don't need another establishment.
Saratoga Casino Holdings CEO Sam Gerrity needs to understand that a casino anywhere in Centre County is not welcome. We don't need it, we don't want it, we will not patronize it, and we will encourage our friends and loved ones to avoid it until it eventually fails. There are good reasons why no other PA casino operator besides Ira Lubert wanted to bid for a license to operate a casino here in State College, and those reasons are also why Ira Lubert has worked so urgently to flip the license for his casino before it even opens instead of operating this casino himself. State College is a small town surrounded by farmland, and it lacks sufficient population to support even a small land-based casino. Of the people who do live here, almost half (i.e. 49,000) are Penn State students who are generally poor but also highly susceptible to gambling addiction. These students will not make the casino owner rich, but will instead draw regulatory scrutiny and create reputational risk. The only money to be made on this casino development was in buying the license and selling it to an out-of-state casino operator who lacks the local knowledge to know that this is a bad project. Whoever ends up buying this casino will be "left holding the bag."
I am a mother whose son became addicted to gambling when he was illegally introduced to it at the age of 19. And for the past 27 years, he has been suffering homelessness and other serious consequences - he's hooked. I do not want any other parent to go through what I have gone through, and I don't want any other child to go through what my son has gone through. So, regarding a casino in State College: We don’t need it, we don’t want it, we will not patronize it, and we will encourage our friends and loved ones to avoid it. Joan B, The Village at Penn State
Stop the Casino! It is a terrible idea forced upon the people who live here. I will never go. In fact, if it happens, I will avoid that entire area until it leaves and tell every one why.
I’m completely opposed to the Casino in State College. It will be a stain on our community. It does not belong in Happy Valley.