Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gambling. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, under brands including Hollywood Casino, Ameristar, and Boomtown. It also offers sports betting in 15 jurisdictions and online casino gaming in 5, under brands such as ESPN and theScore.
History
Background and early history (1968–1994)
Beginning: Pitt Park Raceway, Inc. and the Pennsylvania National Turf Club
In 1967, Pennsylvania enacted a law allowing thoroughbred horse racing with parimutuel wagering. Two companies that later formed part of Penn National Gaming were founded in 1968 by groups seeking one of the four available racing licenses: Pitt Park Raceway, Inc., formed by several Erie area businessmen, and the Pennsylvania National Turf Club, established by a group of Central Pennsylvania investors. The Turf Club was awarded one of the licenses, and soon began construction on Penn National Race Course. The complex included a motor speedway, which held its first races in 1971, and the horse track, which opened in 1972.
Pitt Park Raceway, meanwhile, was denied in its initial application, but received one of a second round of licenses issued in 1970. The first Pitt Park racing meet opened in 1971 at The Meadows, an existing harness racing track. Pitt Park lost half a million dollars in its first meet, leading its owners to sell the company to a group of investors, including Philadelphia insurance businessman Peter D. Carlino. After another unsuccessful season at The Meadows, Pitt Park changed its name to the Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association and moved to Penn National Race Course. Starting in 1973, as a tenant of the Turf Club, Mountainview held 100 nights of racing there each year.
Reorganization and renaming to Penn National Gaming
In 1982, Carlino purchased Penn National Race Course from the financially struggling Turf Club. The Turf Club continued to operate its own racing meet each year, now as a tenant of Carlino.
The companies involved with Penn National Race Course were reorganized in 1994 in preparation for an initial public offering. PNRC Corp., which had been incorporated in 1982, was renamed as Penn National Gaming, with Mountainview and the Turf Club as its subsidiaries. Carlino's son, Peter M. Carlino, who had earlier managed Mountainview, was Penn National's first CEO, a position he held until 2013. In May 1994, Penn National Gaming became a public company via an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, raising $18 million to pay down debt and fund construction of off-track betting parlors.
Expansion (1996–2021) Penn National expanded beyond its first racetrack with the acquisitions of Pocono Downs in 1996, Charles Town Races in 1997, and, in 1999, a half interest in Freehold Raceway and the operations of Garden State Park. Penn National also won approval to begin offering slot machines at Charles Town in 1997.
The company acquired its first standalone casino properties in 2000, buying Casino Magic Bay St. Louis and Boomtown Biloxi from Pinnacle Entertainment for $201 million. This was followed in 2001 by the acquisition of Carnival Resorts & Casinos, including ownership of Casino Rouge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the management contract for Casino Rama in Ontario. Next, in 2002, it bought the Bullwhackers Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado from the Hilton Group for $6.5 million.
In 2003, Penn National bought Hollywood Casino Corp. for $328 million plus $360 million in assumed debt, gaining three casinos in Aurora, Illinois; Tunica, Mississippi; and Shreveport, Louisiana. The acquisition, which doubled Penn National's revenues, was part of a continuing strategy to shift away from the horse racing business and into the casino business. The company planned to rebrand its other properties under the Hollywood Casino name.
In 2005, Penn National acquired Argosy Gaming Company for $1.4 billion plus $791 million in assumed debt, adding five casinos and one horse track to its portfolio (not including the Argosy Baton Rouge, which was quickly sold to satisfy antitrust concerns). The purchase again doubled Penn National's size, making it, at the time, the third largest publicly held gaming company in the country (behind MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment).
In November 2006, a deal for Penn National Gaming to acquire Harrah's Entertainment fell through.
In 2007, Penn National acquired the Zia Park racino in Hobbs, New Mexico for $200 million.