PGCB to Examine State College Casino Petition

The hearings will take place on Wednesday, the 14th of December, and the board will listen to the cases from representatives from Cordish Companies – the Baltimore-based hospitality and gaming firm that operates a couple of casinos in PA. One specific PA-based casino owned by this company is Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia, which boasts a full-size resort and casino. 

When operating in PA, Cordish Companies goes by the business name of “Stadium Casino, LLC”. The Stadium Casino team has raised concerns surrounding the eligibility of the project plan put forward by SC Gaming OpCo, LLC. This is a Category 4 application controlled by Ira Lubert – a former Penn State University trustee and alumnus. 

Lubert was able to bid on the PGCB 2020 September auction thanks to his 3% ownership position in the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh. From this, Lubert won ownership of the mini-casino auction round. This was with a bid of $10,000,101. Following this, Lubert chose the former Macy’s space at the Nittany Mall for the potential casino – only 2 miles from the university campus and home to 40,000 undergraduate students.

Conflict Between Casinos
During the September 2020 auction, the PGCB filed two separate bids. However, the party behind the other submission was not disclosed by state officials. The amount of the bid was not disclosed either. Later, Cordish Companies revealed that they’d offered a little less than Lubert.

Now, attorneys from Cordish Companies contend that Lubert organized an unfair consortium of potential investors for the casino project before the auction date. The Live! Casino operators believe that Lubert had some agreement in place with members of Bally’s Corp and other investors before the $10 million bid. 

Bally’s isn’t licensed in the state of PA, and the two mystery investors have no equity stake in a PA-licensed casino, so they weren’t eligible to bid in the all-important auction. In this case, it is better to look for online casinos in PA which have a license and play from your gadget. It is very important to play at a reliable casino. 

It’s important to note that Lubert and SC Gambling aren’t interchangeable entities – SC Gaming includes other persons that have control and interests in the entity. This is one of the main arguments put forward by the Cordish Companies’ petition. The team stated, “Lubert effectively created an investment vehicle with persons who lack ‘an ownership interest in a slot machine licensee,’ side-stepping the eligibility requirements.”

The petition continued with the statement that Lubert did not apply for the license himself. His actions are claimed to violate the Gaming Act and voided SC Gaming’s application, so the Board’s don’t have a right to even consider it.

Lubert’s Defense
Lubert has repeatedly denied all the legal accusations Cordish made against him. He ensured to pay the state the $10 million Category 4 licensing fee before deciding to partner with Robert Poole, local businessmen, and Richard Sokolov, PSU Trustee.

Cordish is frustrated by the fact he was outbid by Mr. Lubert, which is understandable. However, SC Gaming attorneys countered that the main purpose of the auction process is to create competitive conditions in order to maximize auction bids. The added:

“Regrettably, [Cordish’s] pursuit of its new, flip-flopped view of the Category 4 application process merely serves to exhaust Respondents’ (and the Board’s) resources and, in all likelihood, delay the ultimate project that will bring needed jobs and tax revenues to the Commonwealth and Centre County.”

PGCB officials informed representatives of both SC Gaming OpCo and Cordish (Stadium Casino, LLC) within their meeting notice, that they’d “be prepared to provide testimony and evidence to the Board and answer any questions the Board may have with regard to this matter.”