Tag: Penn Entertainment

ESPN Bet now live in New York

Penn Entertainment launched ESPN Bet in its biggest market yet on Friday (27 September) when it went live in New York state. The platform is now available in 19 US jurisdictions.
The platform, a partnership between the casino company and ESPN, went live in 17 US jurisdictions in November 2023. Prior to Friday’s New York launch, Pennsylvania was the biggest state in which the platform was live.

The New York launch was later than Penn executives had pointed to, as CEO Jay Snowden said he was hoping for a late August launch during the company’s second-quarter earnings call in early August. But the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) didn’t have a meeting at which to approve the application until 23 September.

Penn was able to get into New York because WynnBet left earlier this year. The state has a cap of nine platforms, and all licences were accounted for at the beginning of the year. But Wynn Resorts has been unwinding its digital betting business and exited New York over the ..

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ESPN Bet aiming to launch within days after getting NYSGC licence approval

On Monday (23 September) the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) voted to transfer the Wynn Resorts digital sports betting licence to Penn Entertainment. This means that ESPN Bet could be live in the state by the weekend.
Penn Entertainment and ESPN have been waiting for the vote and the go-ahead to launch. Executives from both companies had previously pointed to a launch by the end of August. But the NYSGC declined to call a special meeting to vote and the last meeting was in June.

The state of New York has a cap of nine digital wagering licences. All nine were accounted for at the beginning of 2024, but WynnBet decided to get out of the digital betting business and exited the state in July. In February, Penn made a deal to buy WynnBet’s NY licence for $25m (£18.7m/€22.5m).

At Monday’s meeting, Penn executive vice-president, chief strategy and legal officer and secretary Chris Rogers told the commission that his company still has “a couple of boxes to check” on technology. But ..

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Penn CEO Snowden: “Don’t believe everything you read” on M&A, points to late August NY launch

Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden refused to comment on speculation of competitors teaming up to acquire the operator during Thursday's quarterly earnings call. Instead, he talked up deeper and deeper integrations with partner ESPN.
On Thursday’s (8 August) earnings call, Snowden said the company will be live in the biggest legal market in the US – New York – by the start of the college football season. He also addressed the controversial winners’ surcharge that DraftKings is floating. But his main focus was acquisition rumours.

The ESPN Bet launch last November brought the premier sports media brand into the betting sector. Snowden said it was a milestone moment. But it hasn’t yet translated into a podium position for Penn Entertainment.

Blended market share across six states averaged 6% for March, and investors have started to question Penn’s digital strategy. This led to rumours of a sale, suggesting Boyd Gaming would bite. Those rumours evolved into a joint approach with ..

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State of the Union: ESPN Bet layoffs, SEC should be “vigilant” to protect athletes

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

Penn lays off some ESPN Bet employees

Less than a year after launching its ESPN Bet platform, and about three years after buying Canadian-based theScore, Penn Entertainment announced layoffs.

Front Office Sports on Wednesday (17 July) tweeted a letter from Penn CEO Jay Snowden to employees. In the letter, Snowden says the company will be “implementing changes” to “streamline the reporting lines”. He also wrote that this process will “result in a limited number of team member separations”.

PENN Entertainment—the gambling company behind ESPN Bet—had a round of layoffs, including multiple employees who focused on ESPN Bet, a source tells @FOS. (Layoffs first reported by @DustinGouker)
Here's an email that was sent to employees this afternoon from the company's CEO: pic.twitter.com/zW7LKOVI9U
— A.J…

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Key Penn shareholder: Sell ESPN Bet to save face and prop up share prices

The Donerail Group, a shareholder of Penn Entertainment, is calling for the company to sell assets amid strategic interest.

Significant shareholder Donerail sent a letter to the Penn board of directors and board chair David Handler. In the letter, Donerail urged the company to sell assets to generate “meaningful and certain” value creation for investors.

Donerail stated its belief that Penn’s casino assets alone are valued at over double the company’s current market capitalisation.

The hedge fund manager noted heavy criticism of Penn from the investment community over its capital allocation strategy. It highlighted that Penn’s shares are down more than 80% over the last three years.

Donerail said: “The growing pattern of guidance misses, alongside a demonstrated unyielding appetite to continue to invest in the company’s fledgling interactive projects, irrespective of past results and without a clear return framework, has significantly damaged the credibility of this management team..

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Leading US operators launch Responsible Online Gaming Association

Seven of North America's largest operators have joined together to launch the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA) in a bid to promote responsible gaming (RG).

ROGA is aiming to promote best RG practices among the industry. BetMGM, Bet365, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, FanDuel, Hard Rock Digital and Penn Entertainment are all collaborating.

According to the launch announcement, the companies involved represent over 85% of the legalised online sports betting and igaming industry in the US. They have pledged more than $20m (£15.8m/€18.5m) to support ROGA’s objectives over the first year of its existence.

Dr Jennifer Shatley will serve as ROGA’s executive director, tapping into her 25 years of experience within the industry and extensive work as an RG executive to facilitate widespread education on the topic.

Shatley’s work with ROGA will take place alongside her role as president of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, as well as her position as a member of t..

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Penn reports Q4 net loss of $358.8m following ESPN Bet launch

Penn Entertainment has announced a net loss of $358.8m (£258.9m/€334m) for Q4 2023, a quarter in which the operator launched its ESPN Bet sportsbook.

ESPN Bet, the product of Penn’s $1.5bn deal with Disney-owned ESPN, launched across 17 states on 15 November.

Penn’s Interactive segment recorded revenues of $31.5m in Q4, although its adjusted EBITDA loss stood at $333.8m.

Revenue across the whole company dropped 12.5% in Q4 year-on-year from $1.6bn to $1.4bn. Overall adjusted EBITDAR for Q4, meanwhile, plummeted from $468.3m to $112.5m year-on-year.

Penn’s northeast segment, encompassing 17 properties including Ameristar East Chicago and Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, accounted for $662.9m of the $1.4bn in revenue.

Diluted earnings per share also went from $0.13 to a loss of $2.37. Meanwhile, total liquidity dropped to $2.1bn from 2022’s figure of $2.6bn. Net debt at the end of Q4 stands at $1.6bn.

Penn’s full year results

The $1.4bn in Q4 revenue took Penn to $6.36bn for the yea..

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Penn to acquire Wynn’s NY sports betting licences, launch ESPN Bet in state

Penn Entertainment has agreed to acquire Wynn Interactive Holdings' New York sports betting licences, clearing the way for Penn to launch ESPN Bet in the state in 2024.

The acquisition gives Penn market access in New York state. As part of the deal, Penn will acquire Wynn Resorts subsidiary Wynn Interactive’s mobile sports wagering licences entity, WSI US, LLC, for $25m (£19.8m/€23.3m).

WSI US, LLC holds the sports betting licences issued to Wynn by the New York State Gaming Commission in 2021.

Upon relevant approvals, Penn will launch ESPN Bet in the state later this year. Penn partnered with ESPN in August last year, in a deal that saw Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook rebranded as ESPN Bet. It then launched across 17 US states in November.

Jay Snowden, CEO and president of Penn Entertainment, said this acquisition will expose ESPN Bet to the most prominent sports betting market in the US.

“This is an important development that will bring ESPN Bet to the largest regulated online ..

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ESPN Bet: The view from the top

Hot off the launch of ESPN Bet, Mike Morrison, vice-president of sports betting at ESPN, explains how sports betting’s biggest launch is set to upend the market – and what he thinks makes it the premier choice for sports fans.

When we first spoke with Morrison in August, he was adamant about ESPN Bet’s potential to be the best sportsbook on the market. At the time it had only been weeks since ESPN had clinched its $1.5bn (£1.18bn/€1.37bn) deal with Penn Entertainment, officially choosing the operator to manage the ESPN Bet sportsbook.

Just over three months later, ESPN Bet has burst onto the scene. With the launch being so highly anticipated, the best place to start is by establishing how it went.

“Really smooth,” according to Morrison. “We’re thrilled. Everything is working very well. Some of the early reviews we’ve seen are really good. Teams are energised and excited on both sides.”

ESPN Bet launched in 17 US states on 14 November

The whirlwind saw ESPN Bet hit 17 US states on ..

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ESPN Bet launches across 17 US states

ESPN Bet, the newly branded online sportsbook operated by Penn Entertainment, has now officially gone live across 17 states in the US.

Players can now place bets with the sportsbook on the ESPN Bet app and website in states including Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois and Ohio.

ESPN Bet is the product of Penn’s $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) partnership with Disney-owned ESPN, the largest sports media brand in the US.

As per the agreement, Penn will operate ESPN Bet while ESPN promotes the app across its online and broadcast platforms.

The launch details

ESPN Bet is a rebranding of existing sports betting app, Barstool Sportsbook. In August, Penn said it sold Barstool Sports back to its founder Dave Portnoy for $1.

“We are excited to announce that we plan to simultaneously launch ESPN Bet across the 17 states in which we operate online sports betting, subject to final approvals,” said Penn CEO Jay Snowden, commenting on Penn’s Q3 results.

“This strategic allia..

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ESPN BET launch: everything you need to know

Like any Disney fairytale, we’re ready for the hero to dash in and save the day. So, what kind of fairytale do we have concocted for tomorrow’s (14 November) ESPN BET launch?

First up, let’s do some background.

ESPN BET launch: has Penn Met its sports betting match?

We all know Penn Entertainment was billed as one of the pandemic success stories. At the time, few investors thought it had a big part to play in our Disney fairytale with its acquisition of Barstool Sports.

However, unlike our Disney tale of true love, Barstool and Penn was just never meant to be.

At the start of 2023, Penn sold Barstool back to Dave Portnoy for a single paltry dollar. This was mere months after completing the $500 million purchase. A poisoned apple, some might say.

Instead, enter the prince of our tale – Disney-owned ESPN.

This where our tale of true love begins and the story of ESPN BET.

A match made in heaven for ESPN and Penn

Following ESPN’s $1.5bn licensing partnership with Penn Entertainme..

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ESPN Bet to launch on 14 November

ESPN Bet, the gaming brand backed by the sports broadcasting giant, is to launch across 17 US states on 14 November.

Penn Entertainment, which will operate the brand, made the announcement in its Q3 trading update, published earlier today. ESPN Bet’s launch is the product of a $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) partnership with Disney-owned ESPN, the largest sports media brand in the US. When the deal was announced in August, Penn said the brand – which replaces its Barstool Sports operation – could add up to $1.0bn to its long-term adjusted EBITDA potential.

ESPN Bet’s logo

The 14 November debut has been timed to coincide with the busy sports calendar during Thanksgiving week. Highlights include NCAA college football rivalry week and the Super Bowl rematch of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles televised on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Jay Snowden, Penn’s CEO and president, said: “This strategic alliance is expected to further expand our digital ecosystem and drive re-engageme..

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