Penn National Gaming has announced that when the Austintown and Dayton racinos open in 2014, they will do so with fewer VLTs than had originally been planned. The original plans called for 1,500 VLTs at each location. Instead they will open with 1,000 VLTs. Penn National Gaming admitted that lower than expected revenues at the Columbus and Toledo casinos influenced their decision to scale back the number of VLTs. Officials also stated that additional VLTs would be added in the future if the demand was there.

Penn National Gaming will save $3 million in sales taxes for the Austintown racino. The tax savings are a result of an agreement reached with the Western Reserve Port Authority. The 10-year lease agreement will provide Penn National Gaming with $60 million of the $125 million being spent to construct the racino. In return, the port authority will own the racino buildings. At the end of the 10-year agreement, Penn National Gaming will buy back the buildings. The $3 million in savings come about because the port authority, being a government entity, does not have to pay sales tax on construction materials.