"Sports betting is a great opportunity to attract the younger generation," incoming Penn National CEO says

In January 2020, Jay Snowden, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Penn National Gaming, will become the company’s CEO, succeeding the retiring CEO Timothy Wilmott. He will manage a company with $5 billion in annual revenue, a portfolio of 40 casinos in 19 states, with two more casinos projected to open in Pennsylvania in late 2020.

In an interview with PennLive, Snowden said these are transformative times in the company, and considered sports betting —the company is live in six states with that vertical— as a “great opportunity” to draw the younger generation: “Sports betters are younger, 21-45 and they tend to skew more male. We are skewing 50-plus and more female. Females tend to play slots machines more than males.” He added sports betting is attracting a younger and more male skewing customer profile, who also enjoys other offerings at the casinos, such as table games and sports bars. 

As for the online segment, Snowden remarked its online casino business “ramp up” for September. He said there is a new customer who prefers online interactive offerings as opposed to a land-based casino or sportsbook, and in that sense, the company is seeing “a lot of new customers” entering the database.

He identified “a real high priority” in building out Penn National’s interactive capabilities: “We’re working on a sports betting app that people would engage with in 2020, where we can participate in the markets where we operate.” And he added: “Is there a sports media company or companies it would make sense to partner with? We don’t have a sports betting brand to lead with for online sports betting. That’s another potential opportunity for us.” Asked about this last topic, he said Penn National has met with no less than 15 different sports media companies, and it is continuing to discuss.

Furthermore, Penn National incoming CEO said the firm has innovation committees looking at the changes casinos have to apply in the next five or ten years: “When (younger adults) do come to brick and mortar casinos for a nice meal or hotel stay, I think their expectations are going to be different. We have to evolve our experience. Skill-based games are being tested right now that appeal to a Gen X consumer, maybe more than the baby boomer. I think the experience on our property, the type of food we need to offer has to change.”

He also stated the balance of slots machines as it is known today is going to evolve. And that evolution will mean not only attracting a new generation of customers, but also retaining those customers.

After the acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment nearly a year ago, Snowden said the focus on the company over the next 18 months is not M&A but deleveraging the balance sheet, “aiming to be in prime position in 2021 to pursue any opportunities that may be present as a company.”