“But then we really started to look at it as an opportunity by looking at the York area and the growth it’s experienced - we really think there’s an opportunity for us to grow this market.” “It was to put up a casino in York and make it relatively small and use it more as a way to defend our turf at Penn National Race Course in Grantville,” Chamberlin explained. The original posture after winning the January 2018 bid was a “defensive” one, she said. No longer a defensive approachĬhamberlin was working for a competitor instead of Penn National when the state law containing mini-casinos was enacted and the company began reacting to it, but she said its approach has clearly evolved to a more positive outlook. “We’re very optimistic we’re bringing the right product to the market and that we’ll be very successful,” Erin Chamberlin, senior vice president of Penn National’s Northeast operations, told Penn Bets in an interview last week. The 15 th casino in Pennsylvania - and the second mini-casino after the Live! Pittsburgh property opened last November in Westmoreland County - may not have all the glitz of a Las Vegas venue, but it will present a convenient chance to gamble on the outcome of a slots spin, blackjack card, ballgame’s outcome, and more.

This week, residents of York and surrounding counties may opt for a shorter drive than ever to play casino games. The rest of the money has been spent to renovate former Sears space on the first floor of the mall and fill it with slot machines, table games, dining outlets, and a sportsbook/OTB parlor. The result is the opening, planned for noon Thursday, of Hollywood Casino York, a $120 million investment at York Galleria Mall that includes the $50.1 million for PNG’s winning auction bid. The company subsequently withdrew its suit against the state, saying it had decided to focus on development of the two projects in York and Berks counties rather than fight a law it initially proclaimed would harm its main casino. How times have changed: Three days from now, PNG will open its first mini-casino - one in York County that it anticipates will complement rather than cannibalize its larger Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course 40 miles to the north.Ī lot has changed about Penn National’s position on mini-casinos since 2018, starting with two successful bids at Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board auctions early that year for the Category 4 venues, as they are officially known. Three years ago, Penn National Gaming filed a federal lawsuit trying to block Pennsylvania from creating the mini-casinos that were authorized in 2017 gaming expansion legislation.

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