How’s business at Happy Valley Casino? Financials released for first full month
Happy Valley Casino’s first full month of gaming revenue was recently released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and, while the casino has already raked in millions, it will still need to increase those numbers to meet yearly projections.
According to the PGCB, in the month of May, Happy Valley Casino made roughly $3.6 million in gaming revenue. If revenue remains flat, that means the home municipality of College Township would receive just under $560,000 from the casino this year — short of the $762,000 the township budgeted.
Put another way, if gaming revenue remained flat through 2027, College Township would get about $810,000 in the casino’s first full year — shy of the $1.2 million that Convergence Strategy Group projected in a public impact analysis when it still believed the casino would operate 24/7.
But neither officials from Happy Valley Casino nor College Township were sounding the alarm after just one month.
“We anticipated there would be seasonality to our business, and the current results are not unexpected,” casino assistant general manager Jennifer Johnson told the CDT in an email. “Happy Valley Casino opened at the start of what we expect to be the slowest period of the year, before major regional events such as Penn State football weekends and Arts Fest that are expected to drive additional visitation.
“In addition, we have not yet fully ramped up our marketing efforts. We have additional promotions, giveaways, and customer engagement initiatives planned, and our player database is still in its infancy. As that database grows, we will have more opportunities to drive repeat visitation and business growth.”
Other mini-casinos in Pennsylvania have generally seen their monthly slot/table revenue grow after opening. But, typically, locations have seen less than a 20% increase in average monthly revenue from their first full month to their first full fiscal year. (Live! Casino Pittsburgh was the exception out of the commonwealth’s four other mini-casinos, but it opened in late 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were still in place.)
Pennsylvania’s newest mini-casino could be a unique case. Nearly one-third of the county population is composed of Penn State students, many of whom left for the summer during the casino’s first full month of operation. Other mini-casinos are also located in more populous counties with heavier density in surrounding counties, meaning seasonality and special events could have a significantly higher impact here.
The biggest event Happy Valley Casino has been part of so far was Blue-White weekend, and that occurred during the casino’s requisite “test days” — a soft opening of sorts where profits went to charity instead of the casino. The two-day testing period led to the donation of two checks, each for $81,124.94, to YMCA of Centre County and State College Food Bank.
“We were pretty surprised by the amount, to be honest with you,” Scott Mitchell, CEO of YMCA of Centre County, said at the time.
College Township manager Adam Brumbaugh said he remained confident in the number budgeted for 2026 ($762,000), partly because the township played it conservative and planned to utilize just $150,000 of that. He said the early projection was “very difficult” to come up with last year, as officials weren’t entirely sure when the casino might open.
As for 2027?
“Speaking for myself, I would say that I am cautiously optimistic that casino revenues will increase over time,” Brumbaugh said. “If they do, that will be welcome and the Township (will) make good use of the extra funding. If not, the Township will make good use of what revenue is generated.”
Added Johnson, from the casino: “Given the property’s early stage and the factors above, we remain confident in our long-term outlook.”
Happy Valley Casino officially opened April 27 at the Nittany Mall. It is open daily, from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., with table games available from 4 p.m. to midnight.
Pa.’s mini-casinos in May
Here’s a closer look at the slots and table games revenue in May from Pennsylvania’s five mini-casinos:
(Please note that the gross amount excludes promotional funds. All figures pertaining to slots have also been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, while figures related to table games have been rounded to the nearest thousand.)
Happy Valley Casino
Slot wagers: $31.9M
Slot payouts: $28.6 M
Slot gross: $3.1M
Table gross: $482K
Hollywood Casino Morgantown
Slot wagers: $78.1M
Slot payouts: $70.7M
Slot gross: $6.1M
Table gross: $858K
Hollywood Casino York
Slot wagers: $95.6M
Slot payouts: $86M
Slot gross: $8.2M
Table gross: $1.239M
Live! Casino Pittsburgh
Slot wagers: $103.3M
Slot payouts: $92.5M
Slot gross: $9.2M
Table gross: $1.514M
Parx Shippensburg
Slot wagers: $47M
Slot payouts: $42.1M
Slot gross: $3.7M
Table gross: $281K
Comparing casinos’ first months
Here’s a closer look at how each mini-casino fared in its (respective) first full month of operation in slots and table games:
(Please note that Live! Casino Pittsburgh opened before restrictions were eliminated from the COVID-19 pandemic, so its fourth month of operation served as its first full month of operation. Also, all gross amounts exclude promotional funds. All figures pertaining to slots have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, while figures related to table games have been rounded to the nearest thousand.)
Happy Valley Casino
First full month: May 2026
Slot wagers: $31.9M
Slot payouts: $28.6 M
Slot gross: $3.1M
Table gross: $482K
Hollywood Casino Morgantown
First full month: January 2022
Slot wagers: $46.7M
Slot payouts: $42.1M
Slot gross: $3.8M
Table gross: $829K
Hollywood Casino York
First full month: September 2021
Slot wagers: $66.6M
Slot payouts: $60M
Slot gross: $5.3M
Table gross: $1.442M
Live! Casino Pittsburgh
First full month: February 2021
Slot wagers: $68.1M
Slot payouts: $61.4M
Slot gross: $5.4M
Table gross: $775K
Parx Shippensburg
First full month: March 2023
Slot wagers: $32.3M
Slot payouts: $28.8M
Slot gross: $2.9M
Table gross: $156K
