Company Secured Option to Partner with Gaming and Leisure Properties to Facilitate and Fund up to $150 Million of an Expected $180–$200 Million Project Budget
WYOMISSING, Pa., April 24, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PENN Entertainment, Inc. ("PENN" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today plans for an expected $180–$200 million project to relocate its Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs ("Ameristar") riverboat casino operations to a new, state-of-the-art land-based property to be rebranded as Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs ("Hollywood Council Bluffs"). The proposal was approved by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission this morning in conjunction with a 15-year extension of Ameristar’s partnership with the nonprofit Qualified Sponsoring Organization ("QSO") Iowa West Racing Association. All commercial operators in Iowa are required to have an operating agreement with a QSO licensed to conduct gaming operations.
Under the proposed plan, the new Hollywood Council Bluffs is expected to include roughly 125,000 square feet of new development with approximately 58,000 square feet of gaming space and more than 1,000 positions on a single level. The new facility will complement the existing ESPN BET sportsbook, 160-room hotel and dining options in the landside portion of the current infrastructure. The existing riverboat, which presently offers gaming spread out over three levels, will be vacated upon opening of the new property.
"We are pleased to add another landside relocation to our pipeline of development projects," said Todd George, Executive Vice President of Operations for PENN. "This project will enhance the quality and efficiency of our Council Bluffs location and significantly improve the property’s competitive positioning in the greater Omaha market. PENN’s diversified portfolio of casino properties is core to our omni-channel approach to entertainment, which combines our best-in-class retail operations and a database of more than 32 million PENN Play members with our robust interactive and media footprint. We thank the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for their approval today and are grateful for the continued collaboration with our partners at the Iowa West Racing Association."
"We are thrilled with the exciting development plans for the new Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs," said Brenda Mainwaring, President & CEO of the Iowa West Racing Association. "For nearly thirty years, the Ameristar riverboat has been providing not only dining and entertainment, but thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in support of our community. PENN’s commitment to reinvesting in Council Bluffs is laudable and we are grateful for our ongoing partnership."
Construction of the new facility is expected to take approximately 18-24 months following the design and permitting approval process. The Company is entitled to obtain financing for the project from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. ("GLPI") (Nasdaq: GLPI) of up to $150 million at a 7.10% cap rate, which may be structured at PENN’s option as either rent or a 5-year term loan that is pre-payable at any time without penalty.
About PENN Entertainment
PENN Entertainment, Inc., together with its subsidiaries ("PENN," or the "Company"), is North America’s leading provider of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming experiences. PENN operates in 28 jurisdictions throughout North America, with a broadly diversified portfolio of casinos, racetracks, and online sports betting and iCasino offerings under well-recognized brands including Hollywood Casino®, L’Auberge®, ESPN BET™, and theScore BET Sportsbook and Casino®. PENN’s ability to leverage its partnership with ESPN, the "worldwide leader in sports," and its ownership of theScore™, the top digital sports media brand in Canada, is central to the Company’s highly differentiated strategy to expand its footprint and efficiently grow its customer ecosystem. PENN’s focus on organic cross-sell opportunities is reinforced by its market-leading retail casinos, sports media assets, and technology, including a proprietary state-of-the-art, fully integrated digital sports and iCasino betting platform, and an in-house iCasino content studio (PENN Game Studios). The Company’s portfolio is further bolstered by its industry-leading PENN Play™ customer loyalty program, offering its approximately 32 million members a unique set of rewards and experiences.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "plans," "goal," "seeks," "may," "will," "should," "look forward to," or "anticipates" or the negative or other variations of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties. These statements are based upon management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates and are not guarantees of timing, future results, or performance. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in these statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those factors described in PENN Entertainment’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including PENN Entertainment's current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except for PENN Entertainment’s ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, PENN Entertainment undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
