Penn Entertainment Inc. would consider acquiring a Strip property if the right opportunity came on the market.
Penn CEO Jay Snowden on Thursday said the right deal would have to check several boxes before the Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based regional casino company would consider entering the Strip market.
“Would our customers love if we had a Las Vegas Strip location? I would say yes, but with the caveat that not any location, not any product,” Snowden said in response to an analyst’s question toward the end of the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
“And we’re certainly not interested in acquiring an asset that’s going to require another $400 to $700 million (capital expense) investment because it’s got deferred maintenance. So it would have to check a lot of boxes. We’d love to be on the Las Vegas Strip at the right time, but it would have to be right price, right asset. And, you know, who knows what will come on the market? But that would be some of the criteria.”
Strong results at M
It’s not that Penn is disappointed with its current Las Vegas property, Henderson’s M Resort. The December opening of a new 375-room hotel tower that nearly doubled the property’s capacity to 765 rooms and cost the company $206 million was partially responsible for Penn reporting a shift to profitability over last year.
The company, which has 42 casino properties in 20 states and in Canada, reported net income of $32.6 million, 24 cents a share, on revenue of $1.86 billion, compared with a net loss of $18.3 million, 12 cents a share, on revenue of $1.76 billion for the same quarter in 2025.
M Resort results helped boost the company’s West Segment revenue by 10 percent over last year for the quarter that ended June 30. Penn’s West Segment includes two casino properties on the Nevada-Idaho border at Jackpot, Ameristar Black Hawk in Colorado and Zia Park in New Mexico.
Strength in the West Segment offset a decline in the South where Penn has properties in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Snowden noted strong results from Penn’s online sportsbook, particularly in June, with wagering on the NBA Finals and the World Cup soccer tournament.
Sports betting strength
“On the sportsbook side, we are planning to grow through the end of the year,” Snowden told investors. “If you remember, we rebranded from ESPN Bet to ScoreBet in December. And as that audience normalizes, what we’ve realized is the Score brand, while still small and growing in the U.S., is very loyal and so we’re taking care of those users. We saw a lot of engagement and reactivation through the World Cup and we’re keeping those people engaged through football, so we feel good there.”
Snowden said World Cup betting online specifically lifted gaming revenue, despite online wagering’s hold rate being flat against last year.
“We saw encouraging interactive engagement trends during the World Cup, approximately 70 of our sportsbook users placed a World Cup wager, with approximately 45 of those World Cup bettors placing a soccer wager for the first time,” he said.
David Katz, a gaming analyst with New York-based Jefferies, said Penn was in line with Wall Street expectations and said in a note to investors that the company continues to progress.
“The results are better than expected, with retail delivering consensus beats in three of four regions and a $31 million adjusted cash flow guidance range that exceeded the magnitude of the beat,” Katz said. “Interactive also showed continued operational progress. Overall, revenue was relatively in line with the Street. In totality, we believe the results reflect the operational improvements demonstrated throughout the year, which should be neutral to modestly positive for the shares.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
