- The opening of Parx Casino Shippensburg has been moved to February 2023.
- Parx Casino Shippensburg will occupy half of the former Lowe’s Building at 250 Conestoga Drive in Shippensburg Township.
- Satellite casinos have fared well in the state with Live! Pittsburgh and Hollywood York generated $85 million and $25.3 million in revenues, respectively, last year.
Parx Casino in Shippensburg, the first-ever casino in Cumberland County has pushed its opening back to February 2023.
The new launch date was announced last week by the company in a Facebook post. Originally, the new casino was supposed to open last month but delays in construction and supply chain disruptions have forced the owners to delay its opening.
It will not only expand the casino’s presence in Pennsylvania but it will also add to the state’s 16 brick-and-mortar casinos, 65 truck stops that house video gaming terminals (VGTs), 19 iGaming websites, 18 retail sportsbooks, and 14 online sports betting platforms.
Parx Casino Shippensburg New Opening Date
Pennsylvania: Parx Casino Shippensburg pushes back the opening date to February https://t.co/3bLX1xs8Jo
— Yogonet Gaming News (@YogonetNews) December 1, 2022
The 73,000-square-foot gambling facility broke ground last February at the former Lowe’s building at 250 Conestoga Drive in Shippensburg Township and will be occupying half of the 139,410-square-foot building. The license holder is GW Cumberland Op Co. which is a company owned by the parent company of Parx Casino and conducts business as Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment.
Upon the completion of its construction, the $65 million project will feature 500 slot machines, 48 electronic table games, and a first-class sports bar and restaurant that can accommodate 100 customers. Officials say that the casino will create 100 permanent jobs and 100 part-time jobs. The company is currently still hiring 50 more employees to fill various positions such as bartenders, surveillance agents, security officers, cooks, and more.
As a Category 4 casino, Parx Casino Shippensburg is tethered to a larger Category 2 casino license holder. The state limits satellite gaming facilities to a maximum of 750 slot machines and 30 table games. However, satellite 2 casino license holders are not limited to a maximum number.
2017 Gambling Expansion
In October 2017 a bill passed in Pennsylvania allowing the expansion of #gambling in Pennsylvania, including but not limited to slot machine-like video gaming terminals at truck stops – https://t.co/4WxpE4Hjn1 @RuttersFS pic.twitter.com/kHVyKJPV7Z
— CStore Decisions (@CStoreDecisions) January 7, 2019,
The Shippensburg casino is a by-product of the 2017 Gambling Expansion in the state where the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board auctioned rights to establish satellite mini-casinos that already have flagship locations. As far as Parx Casino Shippensburg is concerned, its primary casino is the Parx Casino in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of Philadelphia. The Bensalem property is the state’s top-performing casino as far as revenues are concerned.
Parx Casino won the rights for a satellite location for $8.1 million during the 2018 Auction Round. Two proposed projects in Carlisle Borough and South Middleton Township did not push through because their respective municipalities declined to revoke the casino opt clauses that they exercised under the 2017 gaming expansion law.
Shippensburg Township did not use the opt clause. It allowed casinos to be built in its commercial districts via a conditional-use ordinance. As far as Parx Casino is concerned, its application was approved in January 2021 after meeting the zoning ordinance requirements and construction commenced the following month.
Pennsylvania Satellite Casinos Performing Well
Penn Entertainment, then known as Penn National Gaming, was the first company to acquire a Category 4 license in Pennsylvania with a $50.1 million bid. Penn then secured a second license during another bidding round for $10.5 million. Hollywood York opened in August 2021 while Hollywood Morgantown along the Pennsylvania Turnpike debuted one year ago.
The Cordish Companies, the owners of Live! The casino is the only other company to open a satellite casino in the state. The Baltimore-based company opened Live! Casino Pittsburgh outside Steel City in Westmoreland in November 2020.
So far, the open satellite casinos are performing well. Live! Pittsburgh won $85 million on their slot machines last year while Hollywood York won $25.3 million. Table game wins were $14.7 million and $6.8 million, respectively. Meanwhile, Live! Pittsburgh also brought in $1.6 million in sports bets while Hollywood York fetched $1 million from sports wagering.
