On Monday morning, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PCGB) confirmed that years of ongoing court battles in Bally’s State College Casino came to an end last week. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a license the PCGB granted to the casino in 2020. Construction on the property is eligible to start this year. SC Gaming’s Ira Lubert was awarded the license. He is a real estate investor who was awarded a mini-casino license in 2020. Lubert received this license over Stadium Casino. The owners of Live! Casino Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Doug Harbach, the PCGB communications director, had this to say on Monday.
“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.”
Ira Lubert won the legal battle in the Supreme Court
For nearly four years, there was an ongoing battle between SC Gaming and Stadium Casino. However, that has come to an end. In 2020, Ira Lubert placed a winning bet that exceeded $10 million to purchase the mini-casino license. Almost immediately, Stadium Casino contested. They claimed that Ira Lubert improperly bid on the casino license. Their attorney believes that Lubert entered into several arrangements with other entities. This allegedly happened after the bid but before the application. Despite Stadium Casino trying to find something faulty, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with SC Gaming. For now, there is no timeline for the start date for the new casino near Penn State’s campus. All signs point to SC Gaming moving forward and creating a retail presence in PA.
Bally’s Nittany Lion casino is set to be the state’s 18th property and their fifth mini-casino. Having a retail and online presence in PA is a bonus for Bally’s online casino. When their land-based casino is finally built, they’ll have a brand-new audience to cater to. Those 21 and older in PA can enter the physical real casinos and place a wager.
