Why an aging casino company adopted Barstool’s David Portnoy

Regulators in 13 states have allowed Penn to offer Barstool-branded sportsbooks, with four states also allowing digital casino games. Penn has also introduced Barstool bars and sports betting sites in 12 locations.

The results for Penn have been mixed. Betting app Barstool is the seventh largest in the country by revenue, according to research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. It controls around 3% of the sports betting market, less than half of what analysts had expected.

Penn, which said it would exercise its outright call option in February, remains committed. The new Barstool Sportsbooks inside Penn’s casinos attracted young gamblers to visit. Once inside, Penn executives say, they spend money on gambling, food and drink — and come back often.

Thanks at least in part to the Barstool deal, customers between the ages of 21 and 44 now account for about 20% of Penn’s revenue — a figure that has nearly doubled in recent years, Snowden told analysts this month. -this. He said Barstool and Mr Portnoy have proven to be “incredible partners for us”.

They have also occasionally engaged in what critics describe as problematic behavior, including ridiculing the concept of responsible gambling and trumpeting its five- and six-figure bets.

In a September 2021 Twitter Publish, for example, Mr. Portnoy said, “First. Always bet responsibly. 2nd. This is how you win ¼ million fast,” alongside a photo of a betting slip showing a $19,000 bet he placed on the Barstool app.

Later that month, Barstool and Penn agreed to pay a total of $17,500 to Indiana regulators after Barstool posted a TikTok video in which a young woman downplayed the consequences of losing money. The video violated Indiana laws governing deceptive gambling marketing. (Penn, realizing the video was inappropriate, reported it to regulators in several states, but only Indiana appears to have taken disciplinary action.)