Penn National Gaming Completes Name Rebrand To Penn Entertainment

Penn National Gaming has made its rebrand official. The Pennsylvania operator will now be known as Penn Entertainment ($PENN). 

In March, the US gambling company filed 15 trademark applications, fueling speculation around the industry that a name change was on the horizon. 

Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden said the new name better aligns with the company’s future direction. 

New name, same US gambling company

Penn operates 44 gaming properties across 20 states. The company also has online casino operations in five markets and sports betting in 13. 

A few of the company’s major brands include Hollywood Casino, Barstool Sportsbook and theScore Bet.

“Today is an exciting day for us as we become Penn Entertainment, Inc. Our new name maintains ties to our legacy while better reflecting our evolution into North America’s leading provider of integrated entertainment, sports content,
and casino gaming experiences,” Snowden said. 

This is the second name change in the company’s storied history. The company’s original name was Penn National Race Course Corp. and it first entered casino gambling with Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. 

Entertainment will be the core business

In 2020, Penn National spent $163 million to acquire a 36% stake in Barstool Sports. At the time, the deal was the company’s first shift into online entertainment. At the end of 2021, Snowden said Penn hopes to acquire the remaining 64% of Barstool by 2023. 

Snowden said:

“Over the past few years, Penn has transformed our business through a highly differentiated strategy. [It is] focused on organic cross-sell opportunities, which is reinforced by our investments in market-leading retail casinos, sports media assets, owned technology — including a state-of-the-art, fully integrated digital sports and online casino betting platform — and an in-house iCasino content studio.”

The trademark filings in March include international patent classifications for downloadable mobile apps for:

• Casino games
• Sports betting
• Live-action betting games
• Off-track betting