Penn National Gaming has taken a big step toward putting a mini-casino in York County, Pennsylvania by securing approval from host community officials.
Springettsbury Township supervisors voted last week to approve the casino operator’s proposal for what would operate as Hollywood Casino York.
Penn National has previously unveiled plans to build the mini-casino at a space formerly occupied by a Sears department store at the York Galleria Mall just off Route 30. The site is conveniently placed near Pennsylvania’s southern border and is hoped to draw patrons from neighboring Maryland.
It was in early 2018 when Penn National was selected as the winning bidder for the right to develop a Category 4 satellite casino in York County. The company spent a whopping $50.1 million to submit the winning bid.
Under Pennsylvania’s updated gambling law from 2017, existing casino licensees can bid for one of 10 Category 4 licenses for mini-casinos with between 300 and 750 slot machines and up to 30 table games. The mini-casino provisions of the law along with provisions authorizing sports betting, online gambling, and daily fantasy sports were adopted in hopes to bring additional tax revenue and help the state patch up a massive budget gap.
Each satellite casino auction requires participating operators to put a minimum bid of $7.5 million for the right to operate up to 750 slot machines. An additional $2.5 million enables them to add up to 30 table games. As mentioned above, Penn National presented a $50-million-plus bid to win the York County auction.
Officials’ Approval
The Springettsbury Township Board of Supervisors approved overwhelmingly Penn National’s mini-casino plan during a Thursday meeting. Their vote authorized the addition of casino signage, landscaping and changes to parking at York Galleria Mall and the addition of a 3,000-square-foot building that will contain a stairwell and elevator to the actual mini-casino.
Township officials were originally opposed to the satellite casino idea, but the board reconsidered later on.
Thursday’s positive vote was not the last important hurdle Penn National will have to clear before moving forward with the construction of its York County mini-casino. The project also needs approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
In June, the state gambling regulator gave the green light to another mini-casino plan presented by Penn National, with that one involving putting a satellite gaming facility in Caernarvon Township in Berks County.
Hollywood Casino Morgantown, the name under which the property would operate, was the first Category 4 facility to be licensed by the Gaming Control Board. The regulator has so far selected the preferred operators of five mini-casino projects. It said in July that it would launch a new round of mini-casino auctions on September 4, inviting operators to bid for the remaining five Category 4 licenses up for grabs.
Penn National currently operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. In mid-July, the property became the state’s first casino to go live with online gaming. And last fall, it opened Pennsylvania’s first retail sportsbook.
Earlier this month, Penn National signed five important deals that showed just how serious the company is about tapping into the online casino and online sports betting fields. It inked a technology supply deal with Kambi Group, under the terms of which the European provider would power the operator’s primary sports betting and online gaming ventures.
Penn National also announced that it had entered into agreements with gambling operators DraftKings, PointsBet, theScore, and The Stars Group. Under those agreements the four operators will be able to provide their products as skin partners of Penn National and to “own, operate, and brand real-money online sports betting, poker, and casino offerings” in states where the provision of such products is legal.
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