Penn Entertainment announced Aug. 8 a $2 billion online sports betting agreement with ESPN, as the multimedia sports entertainment company makes a sizable advance into the sports gambling market. As part of the agreement, the companies will launch ESPN BET this fall in 16 states in which Penn Entertainment operates mobile sportsbooks.
Penn Entertainment, formerly Penn National Gaming, owns 43 casinos and racetracks across 20 states. Some of the Thoroughbred racetracks include Penn National Race Course, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Sam Houston Race Park, and Zia Park.
Also in Tuesday’s announcement, Penn Entertainment indicated it had divested in Barstool Sports, selling 100% of Barstool Sports common stock to founder David Portnoy in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants. Penn Entertainment also has the right to receive 50% of the gross proceeds received by Portnoy in any subsequent sale or other monetization event of Barstool.
Penn Gaming initially purchased a 36% stake in Barstool for $163 million in 2019 before purchasing the balance of that company earlier this year for an additional $388 million.
Penn Gaming reported Aug. 9 its second-quarter financials, announcing revenues of $1.67 billion, an increase of 2.9% year-over-year, and net income of $78.1 million, and net income margin of 4.7%, as compared to net income of $26.1 million and net income margin of 1.6% in the prior year.
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