Penn National Gaming opened its first Barstool-branded sportsbook in the country Thursday at the Ameristar Black Hawk casino in Colorado.
The sportsbook is the first in the gaming community that serves the Denver market to open in a retail location. The company has said it plans to bring it Barstool-branded sports betting app to Colorado early next year.
“This will be the first of many new retail locations for Barstool Sportsbooks at our casinos nationwide,” said Penn National CEO Jay Snowden. The company operates 41 gaming locations in 19 states.
“Each will incorporate several features that reflect the spirit of the Barstool Sports brand, resulting in unique sports betting experiences that we expect our customers will thoroughly enjoy,” Snowden said.
Penn National spent $163 million in January to acquire 36% of the sports media platform Barstool, which has roughly 66 million viewers of its website and social media content.
Penn plans to launch the Barstool app before the end of the year in Michigan and will target additional states throughout 2021. The app is currently only available in Pennsylvania. The goal, Snowden said, is to launch sports betting in every state in which Penn has a gaming property and where the activity has been legalized, which could soon be as high as 20 states.
With Maryland voters legalizing sports betting this week, it’s expected Penn will exercise its option to acquire the operations of Hollywood Casino Perryville in the state from real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties later this year.
In addition to Black Hawk, Penn is planning to roll out Barstool-branded retail sportsbooks between November and January at Greektown in Detroit and two casinos in Indiana, Ameristar East Chicago and Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg.
By launching the Barstool branded sportsbooks, Penn hopes to change and increase the reach of the demographic make-up of its customer base, which currently skews to age 45 and older.
Penn said the sportsbook at Ameristar Black Hawk will include sports betting kiosks and ticket writing stations that will support thousands of sports betting options. The new sportsbook is located on the second floor of the casino.
The location also includes a betting counter and a 24-foot-by-12-foot video wall with several large odds boards.
“Our customers are very excited to start wagering on sports,” said Ameristar Black Hawk General Manager Sean Demeule. “The passion for professional and college sports runs deep in this region, and we look forward to becoming a destination for fans all year-round.”
Penn is also developing standalone Barstool-branded entertainment destinations in various markets.
“These locations will serve as virtual sportsbooks in large metropolitan areas in states with approved online sports betting, which we believe will further expand the reach of the Barstool brand and help us acquire new customers at attractive economics,” Snowden said.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
