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With up to 10 new casinos slated to be introduced to new areas of the state, perennial rumors of an Altoona-area casino have already returned.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed a sweeping bill Monday to change the state's gambling laws, opening online betting and letting existing license holders expand to new areas. But officials have cautioned that there's no guarantee Altoona would be one of the cities to get a new "satellite casino" in the coming years.
"We hear the same rumors everybody else hears," Joe Hurd, president of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, said. "Most of the conversations we've had with anybody that seems to have any degree of knowledge … have never really given us a reason to be too optimistic that a casino is coming our way."
That could change to some degree this year, with Act 42 expanding gambling in a bid to ramp up state tax revenue.
The bill makes Pennsylvania -- already the second-biggest state for casino revenue -- one of only four states to allow internet gambling.
One of the most promising elements for the Altoona area, however, is the expansion of satellite casinos owned by existing licenseholders.
Under the law, the state's 10 biggest casinos would get a chance to bid on 10 new licenses for a new type of casino. Labeled Category 4 licenses, they would allow for secondary casinos with 300 to 750 slot machines each.
The new casinos could not be located within a 25-mile radius of any existing competitor, however, and they would come with their own 15-mile radii to keep new competition away.
Twenty-five miles might not sound like a great distance across a state, but the limit rules out large swaths of Pennsylvania that already host casinos and racetracks. Almost the entirety of the state between Philadelphia and Scranton would be unavailable, as would much of the areas around Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Erie.
A handful of densely populated areas would remain available for satellite casinos, including Lancaster, York and Reading. But notably open for development is the I-99 corridor including from Altoona to State College -- a two-county region that's home to some 285,000 people.
"You would think our geographic location would certainly put us in consideration," Hurd said. "What seems to have disqualified us in the past is the perception that there isn't the population volume in this area to really justify putting a casino here."
Locals certainly appear willing to travel for gambling. The Rocky Gap Casino Resort near Cumberland, Md. -- just over the line from Bedford County -- draws busloads of Altoona-area visitors on weekends. With more than 600 slot machines, the casino is similar in size to those allowed by the new law.
A casino in the area could provide a sizable tax boost for local governments. The law sets up a complex series of tax rules depending on a casino's size and location, but even smaller ones are set to contribute a 2 percent tax each to host municipalities and counties.
That could be a boon to local governments, with even smaller casinos reporting tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue and the largest pulling in billions each year.
Municipalities would be free to keep the casinos out if they please. Under the law, local governments can vote to restrict future development -- an option some could take in rural, conservative parts of central Pennsylvania.
"The business community, from retail and hospitality, would welcome the fact that people would be coming into the area," Hurd said. "But there's always that element any time you bring something like gambling or any other attraction that's a vice. … You would get some blowback."
Some local lawmakers have been skeptical of gambling as a source of state revenue: Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr., R-Blair, voted against the bill in its final form, and state Rep. John McGinnis, R-Altoona, did not vote. McGinnis has expressed opposition to expanded gambling in the past.
"I don't know that Altoona will be precluded from them, but I'm doubtful we'll get one of these mini casinos here," McGinnis said Monday at a town hall meeting, according to WTAJ-TV.
Earlier this year, Eichelberger called expanded gambling to balance the budget "a roll of the dice."
Even some casino owners oppose the plan to expand the practice to new areas. While a slate of new licenses could allow big-city casinos to open new locations in underserved areas, existing smaller casinos in rural areas could take a hit.
"The proposed legislation is motivated by a flawed hope that more casinos mean more revenue for the commonwealth," officials with Penn National Gaming Inc. -- owner of the Harrisburg-area Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course -- wrote in a report weeks before the bill passed.
The company argued that the new law effectively cannibalizes business for rural casinos while opening new opportunities for the companies already crowded around big cities.
Other representatives, including those of Mount Airy Casino Resort in northeast Pennsylvania, have expressed similar concerns in the past.
Even if the new law doesn't bring a sprawling casino to Altoona, it raises the possibility of more small-scale gambling in the region.
The law allows casinos to operate interactive gambling machines, with local agreement, at several state airports including University Park Airport. Some truck stops would also be allowed to host video gambling terminals.
Hopeful Altoona-area casino visitors might have to wait until next year to learn whether a satellite casino will come to the region. Bids are set to be taken between January at the latest and July, after municipal governments are given a chance to opt out.
"From our standpoint it's way too early to be able to assign any timetable to any of these new initiatives," state Gaming Control Board Communications Director Doug Harbach said. "We're going to have to look at all the language."
The licensing process for the new casinos will be different from their predecessors' and some details must still be hammered out, he said.
On Monday, Hurd wondered aloud whether local bettors would be drawn to a nearby casino the way they would Rocky Gap in Maryland or the Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh's North Shore.
"I would wonder how many of those people would actually want something like that brought here," he said. "I think the trip sometimes is as much a part of it -- if I can go down the street and gamble, it loses a lot of its allure."