How’s business at Happy Valley Casino? Latest financials show significant decrease
After its first full operating month appeared to “underwhelm,” Happy Valley Casino saw gaming revenue slip even further in June — putting into question whether the new business can rebound and approach earlier projections involving annual revenue, a portion of which goes to the home municipality of College Township.
According to the latest financials from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which were released Friday, Happy Valley Casino saw a roughly 33% decrease in gaming revenue from May to June, from $3.6 million to $2.4 million. Although most mini-casinos see a dropoff between May and June, the heart of summer, no other Pennsylvania mini-casino has ever experienced a larger May-to-June revenue decrease when it comes to slots and table games.
Based on public records, Happy Valley’s slots and table games revenue in June was the lowest amount ever recorded by a Pennsylvania mini-casino in a full operating month. And no other in-state mini-casino has ever seen a sharper decrease between its first full operating month to its second.
Last month, officials from Happy Valley Casino described May’s gaming revenue as “not unexpected.” One official told the CDT they anticipated this would be the slowest period of the year and that major regional events — such as Arts Fest in July and Penn State football in the fall — would lead to more revenue.
It’ll be another month or so until the public learns how the casino fared in July and whether additional Arts Fest visitation — more than 50,000 estimated visitors traveled at least 50 miles to the festival, according to local data — had a significant impact on casino revenue.
In the meantime, Happy Valley Casino has taken clear steps to reduce costs and increase revenue. Aces Social, the casino’s restaurant, initially planned to open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Now, it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and it’s open no longer than six hours at a time. Lucky Break Café remains open daily but has also seen reduced hours; it now closes as late as 11 p.m. when it previously closed at 2 a.m. every day.
The menus have also changed, and a few prices have increased by more than 10%.
Presumably, at least partially due to the shortened hours, multiple individuals claiming to be former employees have posted on social media about layoffs. The Centre Daily Times was unable to confirm the number of lost positions, but casino officials acknowledged that positions have been lost.
“As we continue to improve operational efficiencies and position the business for long-term growth, we are restructuring several departments and creating new ones to better support our evolving needs,” Sam Gerrity, CEO of Saratoga Casino Holdings, the casino’s majority owner, told the CDT in an email. “As part of this process, employees have been offered opportunities to transition into roles within these new departments. While these changes create new opportunities, we also made the difficult decision to eliminate certain positions that no longer align with our organizational structure. These decisions were not made lightly and reflect the evolving needs of the business.
“We appreciate the continued support of our employees, customers, and community partners, and we look forward to continuing to invest in our operations and serving this community for many years to come.”
The changes haven’t been limited to the eateries. CEO/general manager Eric Pearson, who held the position for nearly six years, since the project was first announced, left the casino in June.
Casino officials characterized the departure as expected. Pearson did not previously return a message seeking comment from the CDT.
Although casino officials expect business to pick up in the near future, it’s clear gaming revenues will have to increase significantly to meet initial projections. College Township expected to see about $762,000 from the casino at the Nittany Mall this shortened calendar year and, if gaming revenue remains flat through December, the township would instead receive less than $500,000.
College Township manager Adam Brumbaugh told the CDT last month that this year’s projection was difficult to calculate because the township wasn’t sure when the casino would open. But, regardless of how much the municipality receives, Brumbaugh said College Township would be fine financially because it played it conservative and planned to utilize just $150,000 from its share of gaming revenue this year.
“Speaking for myself, I would say that I am cautiously optimistic that casino revenues will increase over time,” Brumbaugh told the CDT last month. “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.”
July’s financials are expected to be released by the PGCB around mid-August.
Pa.’s mini-casinos in June
Here’s a closer look at the slots and table games revenue in June 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: $23 million
Slot payouts: $20.7 million
Slot gross: $2 million
Table gross: $388K
Hollywood Casino Morgantown
Slot wagers: $66.8 million
Slot payouts: $60.2 million
Slot gross: $5.3 million
Table gross: $644K
Hollywood Casino York
Slot wagers: $82.6 million
Slot payouts: $74.7 million
Slot gross: $6.6 million
Table gross: $1.055 million
Live! Casino Pittsburgh
Slot wagers: $91.3 million
Slot payouts: $82 million
Slot gross: $7.9 million
Table gross: $1.137 million
Parx Shippensburg
Slot wagers: $39.4 million
Slot payouts: $35.2 million
Slot gross: $3.1 million
Table gross: $208K
This story was originally published July 19, 2026 at 9:00 AM.
