Curiously underreported by the mainstream media (as in, not at all) is a lightening of the ship at Penn Entertainment. The story was broken by Legal Sports Report, which gleaned the news from some evidently unhappy postings at LinkedIn. The sackings come in Penn’s digital division, home to theScore, Hollywood Casino and—most pertinently—embattled ESPN Bet.
The employees thrown overboard as ballast got the heave-ho right before Penn was to announce its second-quarter earnings. This suggests they were a sacrificial offering meant to propitiate the unsatisfied Wall Street gods. Were it not for speculation that Boyd Gaming and Flutter Entertainment were about to converge upon, and consume Penn, there’d be no good news to buoy its stock price of late. (Indeed, one stock analyst has already reacted positively to the Penn workforce’s bad news.)
Overcompensated Penn CEO Jay Snowden preposterously tried to spin the human sacrifice as a good thing. “This week, we are implementing changes at PENN Interactive to help streamline reporting lines, enhance operational efficiencies, and leverage shared resources across PENN … As you know, when PENN acquired theScore, we hit the ground running with the build-out of our proprietary tech stack and the migration of our sportsbook to theScore’s best-in-class platform. This led us to temporarily set aside any potential organizational changes that would typically follow a major acquisition.“
Still patting himself vigorously on the back, Snowden trilled, “While we recognize that change is never easy, these evolutions will enable us to better capitalize upon our new phase of growth. Our Interactive business, which is a core pillar of PENN Entertainment, is well-positioned, and we continue to add capabilities and key talent to advance our digital growth strategy. This includes building upon the momentum of our partnership with ESPN with upcoming product enhancements and a deeper integration into the ESPN ecosystem.”
Having thus tied himself to the mast of sinking ship ESPN Bet (#6 in market share in the OSB ecosystem), Snowden doubtless hopes to defy the mounting pressure to break up Penn, selling its digital assets to Flutter (parent of FanDuel) and its casino operations to Boyd. Hollywood’s online players would undoubtedly be subsumed into FanDuel and Boyd’s Stardust online brands, while ESPN Bet and theScore would probably go quietly away. As would Snowden, who’s clearly fighting for his job, using digital-division workers as human shields. If Boyd and Flutter can swing a deal, it’s far past time to ring down the curtain on Snowden’s comedy of errors at Penn.
Thanks to some accounting jiggery-poker, BetMGM managed to reduce Michigan‘s OSB revenues for June to $31 million. How? The company wrote down 3.5 years of free play in one fell swoop. The $49 million writeoff wiped out $40.5 million in handle, out of a statewide total of $277 million. In terms of revenue, BetMGM put itself $45.5 million in the red. BetRivers and Caesars Sportsbook combined eked out just over $1 million between them. ESPN Bet grossed $1.5 million, in one of its better outings, whilst DraftKings posted $8 million to FanDuel‘s $15 million.
iGaming had one of its weaker months, generating $183 million. BetMGM regained the top spot with $48 million but FanDuel and DraftKings were close behind, with $45.5 million and $41 million respectively. BetRivers bested Caesars Palace, $12.5 million to $12 million, while also-rans included Hollywood Casino ($3.5 million), FoxBet ($2.5 million) and BetGLC (ditto).
At $277 million, revenues were flat from last year in Pennsylvania casinos in June. They were also down 14% from 2019, once adjusted to account for gambling expansion. Three casinos markedly outperformed the market. Tribally owned and operated Wind Creek Bethlehem leapt 15% to $48 million and into first place while Lady Luck Nemacolin vaulted 18.5% to over $2 million. Newbie Parx Shippensburg also picked up steam, jumping 22% to $3 million. Two Philadelphia-area casinos, by contrast, got bushwhacked. Rivers Philadelphia tumbled 14% to $16.5 million and Harrah’s Philadelphia plunged 11.5% to $10.5 million. Harrah’s problems in Chester are well documented herein but the former SugarHouse downtown has clearly and irreversibly lost its mojo to Philadelphia Live ($20 million, +1%). Parx Casino, meanwhile, lost its statewide supremacy to Wind Creek with $45 million (-1%). Valley Forge Resort slid 10% down into a tie with Harrah’s, with $10.5 million.
Elsewhere in the Keystone State, Mohegan Pocono dropped 7.5% to $16 million, Presque Isle Downs ($8.5 million) was down 4% and Mount Airy was flat at $16 million. Around Pittsburgh, The Rivers slipped a point to $27 million, Hollywood Meadows was flat at $17 million and Pittsburgh Live slowed 1.5% to $10 million. Hollywood Penn National fell 7.5% to $13 million, Hollywood York climbed 3% to $7.5 million and Hollywood Morgantown rose 11% to $6 million. Pennsylvania courts have given a State College-area casino the go-ahead, promising further saturation to come.
Internet casinos contributed another $160.5 million, led by the Hollywood Casino consortium with $60 million. Trailing it but in the game were FanDuel ($38 million) and BetRivers ($30.5 million). Sports betting garnered $43 million on $465 million of handle. FanDuel was tops with $21.5 million, distantly followed by DraftKings ($11 million). Behind them were ESPN Bet and BetRivers ($2 million each), as well as BetMGM (also $2 million) and Parx ($1 million). Caesars Sportsbook had a horrible month, making almost nothing before promo offers.
Still bumping along the bottom is Louisiana, where a $277 million gross meant a 1% improvement on last year but was still 2% below June of 2019. Basically, Pelican State gambling revenues have fallen and can’t get up. At least sports betting is finally showing some life, engendering revenue of $26 million. In the premier market, Horseshoe Lake Charles was bleeding revenue, -13% to $7.5 million, although the only evident beneficiary was Delta Downs, flat at $14 million. Both the market leaders lost ground, with Golden Nugget down 3% to $28.5 million and L’Auberge du Lac (shown) down 2% to $27 million. That was nothing compared to the -46.5% death rattle of Belle of Baton Rouge, which grossed a why-do-they-even-bother 600 grand. Queen Casino rocketed 78% to $8 million, while L’Auberge Baton Rouge slipped 2% to $15.5 million.
The big news in the Crescent City was Boyd Gaming‘s new Treasure Chest, which debuted to an 87% moonshot, as players flocked to lay down $13 million. Still, the newish kid on the block didn’t menace Fair Grounds racino ($4 million, 9%) or Boyd’s own Amelia Belle ($2.5 million, 6%). Boomtown New Orleans stayed steady at $10 million while Harrah’s New Orleans, already construction-disrupted, tumbled 23% to a bare $15 million. Score one against the Roman Empire. Aside from Evangeline Downs ($6 million, 5%), that leaves Shreveport/Bossier City, where only Horseshoe Bossier City was revenue-negative, plunging 35% to $6.5 million. Leader Margaritaville was up 7% to a serene $16.5 million, trailed by Bally’s Shreveport ($9.5 million, +7.5%), Boomtown Bossier ($4.5 million, 3.5%), Sam’s Town ($4 million, 13%) and Lousiana Downs ($4 million, 13.5%). So there’s definitely cause for optimism inside the numbers.