Penn National argued in the lawsuit that, because it is built in a relatively rural area, more than two-thirds of its gamblers travel from beyond 25 miles to visit the casino. Under the law, each casino owner gets a 25-mile protection zone around their casino, and they may not build a mini-casino inside a competing casino owner’s protection zone. Budgetmakers hope to land at least $100 million by auctioning the 10 licenses. The minimum bid is $7.5 million, and allows the winner to buy a separate certificate for $2.5 million to operate up to 30 table games. Penn National sued a day before it and 10 other casino owners in Pennsylvania can bid on the right to apply for the first mini-casino license, which allows the operation of up to 750 slot machines.
2 state for commercial casino gross revenues, second to Nevada, and already rakes in more tax revenue from gambling - $1.4 billion in the most recent fiscal year - than any other state.
