Posted on: June 18, 2026, 10:56h.
Last updated on: June 18, 2026, 10:56h.
- Happy Valley Casino generated gaming revenue of $3.6 million in its first full month
- The casino is just miles from the Main Campus of Penn State University
Penn State football season can’t come soon enough for the newly opened Happy Valley Casino, which labored in its first full month to attract much play.
On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported that Happy Valley Casino generated May gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $3,567,771. The Category 4 mini-casino opened to the general public on April 27, following two state-mandated regulatory test days on April 24-25.
The bulk of Happy Valley’s casino revenue came from its 600 slot machines, with the reels accounting for $3.1 million. The casino’s live dealer games won less than $500,000.
Despite much fanfare and player promotions and incentives, Happy Valley ranked 17th among the 18 brick-and-mortar casinos in Pennsylvania in terms of May GGR.
Parx Casino was the state leader, with in-person GGR of more than $52.5 million.
Slow Start
How does Happy Valley Casino’s start compare with the four other Cat. 4 casinos in the commonwealth?
Live! Casino Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s first so-called “mini-casino,” opened in Westmoreland in December 2020. Its first full month, despite opening amid the pandemic, saw GGR of $7.1 million. Live! Pittsburgh turned a Bon-Ton department store into a casino.
Hollywood Casino York, which generates the most GGR among the Cat. 4 properties, opened in September 2021. That month, the casino, which took the space of what was formerly a Sears department store, posted GGR of $7.8 million.
Hollywood Casino Morgantown, a new brick-and-mortar structure located off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, opened in January 2022 and won $4.5 million from players that month.
The only Cat. 4 casino to open with less GGR than Happy Valley was Parx Casino Shippensburg. That casino opened in the 28-day month of February and managed GGR of more than $3.2 million. Happy Valley had three more operating days than Parx Shippensburg in its first full month.
Executives with Happy Valley, a project from Penn State alumnus Ira Lubert, who sold a controlling stake in the enterprise to Saratoga Casino Holdings before it opened, can remain happy, for now. The $120 million casino investment, which replaced a Macy’s anchor store at the Nittany Mall, is certainly based on the presumption that the facility will be bustling when school is in session at nearby Penn State University and more than a hundred thousand fans descend on the remote college town on Saturday gamedays for Penn State football.
Record Month
The PGCB said May was a record month for statewide GGR, with players losing almost $625.5 million to the casinos, online casinos, sportsbooks, video gaming terminals, and fantasy sports operators. May marked a 4% year-over-year gain.
The revenue total was the highest monthly amount to date of revenue from the types of gaming regulated by the agency: slot machines and table games in casinos, internet gaming, sports wagering, fantasy contests, and video gaming terminals. The previous high was achieved in January 2025 at $623,092,053,” the PGCB said.
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course led the market, with GGR of $115.5 million. Hollywood’s iGaming operations dominate the online gaming segment, with revenue totaling upwards of $75.3 million.
