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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state gambling regulators voted Wednesday to approve a second license for Penn National Gaming to open a mini-casino, this time in a vacant former Sears store at a suburban York mall.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s vote came almost two years after Penn National Gaming submitted the highest bid, just over $50 million, for the license.
It expects to open the 80,000 square-foot site in the York Galleria Mall in late 2020 or early 2021. The site is about 30 miles south of Penn National’s flagship casino near Hershey.
The license and a $2.5 million table games fee allows Penn National to operate up to 750 slot machines and 30 table games at the facility. Penn National also has approval to open Hollywood Casino Morgantown, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the city of Reading.
The licenses are two of 10 mini-casino licenses that lawmakers authorized for auction in 2017 as they sought to raise cash for Pennsylvania’s treasury.
Penn National and the other owners of Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos were eligible to bid and ultimately snapped up five licenses for $127 million. Pennsylvania’s largest casinos can operate up to 5,000 slot machines and at least 250 table games.
Pennsylvania also allows casino to operate sports betting.