State College Community Speaks Out in Opposition of Bally’s Casino Near Penn State
Posted on: January 23, 2023, 02:07h.
Last updated on: January 23, 2023, 04:15h.
If there are State College residents who support allowing Rhode Island-based Bally’s Corporation to redevelop the former Macy’s department store at the Nittany Mall into a casino, Casino.org hasn’t heard from them.
We have, however, fielded hundreds of comments from concerned Centre County citizens who think gambling should stay far away from Penn State University Park.
Bally’s partnered with Penn State alumnus and former university trustee Ira Lubert. The alliance was made soon after he won the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s (PGCB) September 2020 auction for a Category 4 satellite casino. Lubert outbid Baltimore-based Cordish Companies, which operates two casinos in Pennsylvania — Live! Casino Hotel Philadelphia and Live! Casino Pittsburgh, the latter being a Category 4 property.
Lubert and Cordish qualified to participate in the September 2020 auction because they held ownership stakes in a slot machine license in the Commonwealth. Lubert owns a 3% stake in Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.
Bally’s didn’t qualify, as the company doesn’t have any vested interest in a Pennsylvania slot license. Cordish contends that Lubert orchestrated a scheme with Bally’s before the auction that ran afoul of the state’s bidding rules. As such, Cordish believes the state should dismiss Lubert and Bally’s Category 4 license application.
The PGCB will hear from Cordish during its meeting scheduled for this Wednesday, January 25. The hearing will also include comments from Bally’s reps and the PGCB’s Office of Enforcement Counsel.
State College Opposition
Pennsylvania greatly expanded gaming in 2017. The law authorized iGaming, retail and online sports betting, video gaming terminals at truck stops, fantasy sports, and Category 4 casinos.
The law provided townships and municipalities with the right to opt out of being considered for a Category 4 development — commonly referred to as “mini-casinos” and “satellite casinos.” More than 1,000 local governments did just that. But somewhat surprisingly, because of its close proximity to Penn State, where more than 46K undergrads live and study, College Township remained in the bidding pool.
It’s a decision the College Township council has since expressed regret about. That’s after the local community spoke out in considerable opposition to allowing a casino to come to Centre County.
During PGCB’s public input period, the state received more than 5,000 letters expressing disagreement with Bally’s plan based on a multitude of concerns. Since the public input period closed, the Penn State community has turned to media outlets covering the controversial matter, with Casino.org being one such source, to keep their voices being heard.
Casino.org has received hundreds of emails and comments expressing antagonism to the Bally’s State College project. Our January 14 coverage garnered 151 comments in opposition alone. The news story collected just one comment in support. To read the comments, click here.
Public Opinion Considered
The PGCB has promised the local opposition that the state will weigh the community feedback in making its final decision as to whether to grant Bally’s an operating license for College Township.
But since College Township didn’t opt out of the Category 4 bidding before the state’s August 2019 deadline, it’s unclear whether the PGCB would be willing to deny Bally’s a gaming license simply on the grounds of public opposition.
A likelier path to halting Bally’s project comes from Cordish. Regardless of which direction the gaming board takes, a legal appeal is likely. Title 4, which consists of the state’s gaming laws, directs the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to handle PGCB licensing appeals.
If the PGCB signs off on the Bally’s State College casino, Cordish is likely to appeal. But if the PGCB decides to terminate Bally’s plan because of the Cordish allegation or simply because the public seemingly opposes the development, Bally’s would be expected to appeal that decision.
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Last Comments ( 49 )
Nicely conveyed, Mr. O’Connor. We - the townsfolk - are going to work, buying our groceries, having a dinner out, raising our children. We are so grateful for the positive influences of Penn State and some of the great opportunities it provides in the midst of an otherwise rural area. What benefit would a casino actually have to the town or university? It would be a train wreck for all and should be vehemently blocked in College Township and all surrounding municipalities. Help us out PGCB!
I don't know anyone in favor of a casino in our town. Please do not allow one at the mall.
The uproar you hear is the impassioned OUTRAGE being expressed by the State College/Happy Valley community, which is VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED to the awarding, by the Pa Gaming Control Board of a Category 4 Mini-Casino Gaming license, to SC Gaming OpCo, LLC, whose president is Ira Lubert, (PSU '73, 15 yr. PSU Board of Trustee Chairman/member). His 3 vice presidents are Ara Kervandjian, Robert E. Poole, (PSU '72) & Richard S. Sokolov, (PSU '71, present PSU Board of Trusteee member). If awarded the casino license, these men will lead the charge to build a brick-and-mortar casino in the Nittany Mall, adding unnecessary, unwanted & irretrievable pollution to the Happy Valley lifestyle and culture, most especially, since in the past 3 years, TV/radio/mobil phone/online gambling options have saturated the airwaves, allowing all who wish to legally gamble, to do so, without the physical casino's contaminating footprint, & all the unsavory problems it brings. A physical casino in Happy Valley/State College/Penn State's flagship campus, would permanently stain a large swath of our community's lifestyle, & serve only to line the pockets of its financiers. NO CASINO FOR HAPPY VALLEY NOW! NO CASINO FOR HAPPY VALLEY EVER! PLEASE, PA. GAMING CONTROL BOARD, DO NOT CONSIDER ISSUING A GAMING LICENSE FOR STATE COLLEGE!
NO casiNO in State College!
Thank you for highlighting the strong community opposition to the casino. Now we need/expect PGCB to listen and respond accordingly. The College Township Council failed to opt-out of a casino coming (which they now regret), so let's right the wrong.
I agree with the concerns about putting a Casino adjacent to Penn State. This community has many good entertainment options and adding gambling next to the University is not a positive addition.
Casinos are destructive to any community, but it would be especially damaging to this area, considering its proximity to 40,000 plus Penn State University students, many of whom are in the age category most vulnerable to the lures of addictive gambling. I would strongly request the PGCB deny Bally's operating license in College Township, State College.
A superb write up, Mr. O'Connor! Thank you for such a concise and clear reporting on the where things currently stand. State College is not the place for this kind of establishment! The community has spoken time and again on this; its opinion is clear and known. As I tell my children, "the answer is No, and the answer has not changed."
100% against bringing a gambling establishment of any kind to our area. My concern is less about college students specifically and more about the likelihood of increased crime rates and increased costs related to the police and social services that would be required to address crime. My fingers are crossed that the license is turned down and College Township is given an opportunity to reverse their decision that allowed this debate to form in the first place.
Thank-you for your insightful letter pertaining to the proposed Casino in State College, Devon. Nothing is more apparent than to measure the greed of the Casino proponents against the wholesale opinion of the populous that are opposed to this planned venture. A Casino would benefit only the few and would be a detriment to the vast community, most of which are college aged. Why would we want to install a gambling culture to go along with all the other pressures that beset these students already? As Spike Lee pleaded many years ago in his film title, "Do The Right Thing". Simple as that. Thank-you! Barry L. Gallagher and Debra A. Gallagher (State College)
I really appreciate how well this article conveys our community's nearly total opposition to the proposed casino. If this casino gets built, this area will never be the same again. Just to reiterate some points I have made before-- Please do not bring a casino here. Whatever slight benefits obtained are vastly outweighed by the negatives: - Should we enable and even actively foster gambling and gambling addiction, an enterprise that at its core preys upon the desperate (and foolish) by deceiving them and taking their money? NO. - Should we attract a stream of strangers to our area, who care nothing for us or our quality of life, who may increase local crime, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.? NO. - Do we want to move in any direction that begins to turn Happy Valley into Seedy Valley? NO. - Are we really so desperate to revitalize the mall that we would unthinkingly welcome a casino instead of actively considering better options without all these downsides? I hope not. - Would we be PROUD of a casino? I know I wouldn’t. - Not to mention the billboards, the advertising, the traffic impacts. Our area is highly and uniquely beautiful, and the culture and values of the people here are the reason why so many (including many who never intended to stay or return) find the allure of Happy Valley irresistible. Why on earth would we welcome an eyesore, a blemish, and a predatory entity like a CASINO?! Of all places, what on earth would THAT be doing here?! No. Absolutely NO.
A casino is not a necessity for this town, in fact it would cause great harm for many. What is more important, bringing more dollars into State College or preventing harm to those who are easily addicted to gambling and would cause further harm to themselves and town resources as they succumb to its grasp? Do we care more about the dollars in income or about the people who are not able to resist addiction, most probably the young students, of which there are many? It would not be a small number of victims of addiction, but a number in proportion to the large number of students living at Penn State.
Devin O'Connor's outstanding coverage of the Happy Valley community's unprecedented strong opposition to the proposed casino here is very much appreciated! Thousands of area residents in and near State College are stunned to know of former Penn State Board of Trustees Chair Ira Lubert's outrageous plan to bring an unwanted casino to the Nittany Mall less than four miles away from his alma mater's main campus at University Park. Even more outrageous is the absolute silence the casino's developers has imposed on Penn State's current leadership by slyly reminding them not to bite the hand that feeds them. Penn State certainly does not ask its most generous donors about the source of those nonstop recurring huge donations the University can rely upon receiving for decades. It is not just Ira Lubert on the list of the University's major donors. Other major donors to Penn State are already part of the casino's development team that has imposed an ironclad and unspoken pledge of allegiance on the current Penn State Board of Trustees. In other words, "Members of the Board, please remain neutral and finally speak out publicly to announce the University has no opinion on a business decision that does not involve Penn State in any way. Both the University and our team of your most generous and major donors will thereby reap the benefits of nonstop casino revenue for many years to come." The PA Gaming Control Board cannot ignore this "wink and a nod" agreement we all know is already in place. The casino's license application must by denied! Any decision to approve that license would be a travesty that will quickly bring chaos to Happy Valley while the casino developers bask in the victory they hope for. Please listen to our collective voices. Stop the Nittany Mall Casino right now before it brings severe negative impact on our entire community and the 45,000 Penn State students just minutes away. Please listen to us!
Thank you, Mr. O'Connor for honestly and accurately communicating the overwhelming opposition to this casino being placed near State College. I can only pray now that the Gaming Control Board will listen and care.
A gambling casino has no place in our community. Study after study demonstrates the negative affect of gambling on individuals. I hope the PGCB will deny the application and remedy College Township's lack of judgement.