No Comments on Buying Barstools Beyond Regulatory Submission

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A Penn Entertainment spokesperson declined to comment Thursday on the company’s plans to fully acquire Barstool Sports, other than Wednesday’s regulatory filing and earlier comments by the company. did. Barstool founder David Portnoy.

Portnoy is known for his philanthropy, but he’s also known for allegations of sexual misconduct, including non-consensual sex, by several women published by Business Insider. Portnoy sued her Business Insider for defamation.

Penn Entertainment, known as Penn National Gaming until earlier this month, initially purchased 36% of Barstool with the option to acquire the rest. His CEO of Penn Entertainment, Jay Snowden, covered the report on Portnoy on a conference call in February. This was primarily to discuss the company’s quarterly financial earnings with equity analysts.

“The allegations are from anonymous sources created about Dave and his personal life, which Dave has publicly responded to,” Snowden said. , or if you plan to read it, I suggest you also read and watch Dave’s reaction he posted last night.”

Snowden also noted that the article was “dropped last night by the same paywalled subscription-based publisher (Business Insider).”

In a video posted on social media platforms and referenced by Snowden, Portnoy denied the allegations.

“Are they going to keep lying?” he said. “Does it matter how much evidence I have that directly contradicts everything these girls say? No one seems to care.”

In the same February earnings call, Snowden also expressed optimism about the acquisition.

“We look forward to becoming 100% owners of Barstool,” said Snowden. “They are great partners for us. This is a fast growing sports media business.”

In early August, Snowden explained Penn’s rationale in his final public comments on the deal before the full acquisition was confirmed on Wednesday.

“Cross-selling and monetization within sports betting and online casinos is key,” he said.

Snowden did not provide details.

Penn Entertainment’s regulatory filings on Wednesday indicated that the acquisition could be completed by February 2023. That announcement came on the same day as new figures revealing that overall Pennsylvania gambling revenue in July 2022 increased by just 1% compared to July 2021.

However, the figure is driven by very different underlying trends, including a 28% surge in in-person sports betting at casinos (including Barstool-branded sportsbooks inside Penn Entertainment’s Hollywood casinos in places such as York). decreased by 45%. Fantasy sports betting that takes place almost entirely online.

Pennsylvania’s largest fantasy sports platform, DraftKings, reported a 28% drop in fantasy sports revenue in the state in July 2022 compared to July 2021. The second largest FanDuel was down 66% of him.