PENN Entertainment Launches New Hollywood Casino App in Pennsylvania

WYOMISSING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 18, 2024--

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (“PENN” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: PENN) is pleased to announce the launch of its stand-alone Hollywood Casino app in Pennsylvania. Built on PENN’s proprietary technology platform, Hollywood Casino offers more than 700 iCasino games, a variety of daily promotions, and exciting jackpots.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241218045402/en/

Available on Android, iOS and desktop, customers in the Keystone State can access Hollywood Casino through either the ESPN BET app or through the new Hollywood Casino app using their same ESPN BET login credentials, allowing for a seamless experience across PENN’s online betting and casino platforms. PENN plans to launch Hollywood Casino in additional jurisdictions in 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

Hollywood Casino features a variety of online slots, table games and live dealer content, including bespoke live dealer tables and a dedicated ‘Casino Floor’ lobby that allows users to easily find virtual versions of their favorite slot games from PENN’s retail properties. Hollywood Casino also features original titles from PENN Game Studios, PENN’s in-house casino game development studio that has produced a number of popular online games, including Legendary Larry TM and Wuji Mines TM.

“We’re excited to launch Hollywood Casino as a stand-alone app in Pennsylvania, giving our customers access to their favorite games in a dedicated, casino-first experience,” said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer at PENN Entertainment. “With four Hollywood Casino properties in the state, the app leverages our trusted retail brand and creates a seamless connection between our online and retail gaming experiences. We look forward to bringing this enhanced Hollywood Casino experience to more iCasino markets in early 2025, pending regulatory approvals.”

Hollywood Casino is also fully integrated with PENN Play, the Company’s omnichannel loyalty program that allows members to earn and redeem rewards, including PENN Cash, exclusive tier benefits and personalized services.

PENN is committed to providing a safe environment for all customers to enjoy gaming responsibly. ESPN BET and Hollywood Casino offer players comprehensive Responsible Gaming tools and resources, including limits on time, deposits, and wagering amounts. To learn more, visit www.pennentertainment.com/corp/responsible-gaming.

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About PENN Entertainment

PENN Entertainment, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (“PENN,” or the “Company”), is North America’s leading provider of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming experiences. PENN operates in 26 jurisdictions throughout North America, with a broadly diversified portfolio of casinos, racetracks and online sports betting and iCasino offerings under well-recognized brands including Hollywood Casino ®, L’Auberge ®, ESPN BET™ and theScore BET Sportsbook and Casino ®. PENN’s ability to leverage its partnership with ESPN, the “worldwide leader in sports,” and its ownership of theScore, the top digital sports media brand in Canada, is central to the Company’s highly differentiated strategy to expand its footprint and efficiently grow its customer ecosystem. PENN’s focus on organic cross-sell opportunities is reinforced by its market-leading retail casinos, sports media assets, and technology, including a proprietary state-of-the-art, fully integrated digital sports and iCasino betting platform and an in-house iCasino content studio (PENN Game Studios). The Company’s portfolio is further bolstered by its industry-leading PENN Play™ customer loyalty program, offering its 31 million members a unique set of rewards and experiences.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “goal,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “look forward to,” or “anticipates” or the negative or other variations of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties. These statements are based upon management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates and are not guarantees of timing, future results, or performance. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in these statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those factors described in PENN Entertainment’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including PENN Entertainment's current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except for PENN Entertainment’s ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, PENN Entertainment undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

PENN Entertainment launches new Hollywood Casino app in Pennsylvania (Graphic: Business Wire)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jacob Elordi is suddenly everywhere in Hollywood — so much so that he thinks he must be dreaming.

Amid a remarkable streak of high-profile projects with respected filmmakers — Sofia Coppola's “Priscilla,” Guillermo del Toro's upcoming adaptation of “Frankenstein” and, in theaters now, Paul Schrader's “Oh, Canada” — the 27-year-old isn’t taking his success for granted.

“I don’t want to be so arrogant as to say like, you know, ‘I choose what is befitting of me,’” he said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “I’m very grateful because to say you choose these things sort of seems too conscious or something. I kind of am in a constant state of like, ‘Wake me up from this.’”

“Oh, Canada” tells the story of Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), an acclaimed documentarian on his deathbed who, in what becomes a final act of confession, agrees to have the cameras turned toward him for a documentary about his own life.

Elordi plays a young Fife in the film, based on Russell Banks’ 2021 novel, “Foregone.” Despite their physical differences, Elordi’s performance as a younger Gere is believable, thanks in part to the amount of effort he put into studying Gere’s mannerisms.

“Richard has such a rich career of films and a really diverse range of films so there was a lot to watch and just kind of copy him, you know? Like Simon Says or something,” Elordi said. “The best one for physicality was ‘American Gigolo,’ because I think he was 29 or something when he made that film. So, it’s, you know, not far from where I am now.”

Schrader is not known for making big-budget blockbusters. And while the filmmaker has reaped critical praise throughout his prolific career, he’s made his share of panned flops.

But that hasn’t stopped the 78-year-old from cementing his reputation as a pioneering auteur with an impressive catalog of actors who admire and work with him, including Amanda Seyfried,Willem Dafoe,Oscar Isaac and Nicolas Cage.

“There’s a list of people who have sort of given to the art form of cinema and he’s right up at the top of it,” Elordi said. “As soon as the email comes through and it says Paul Schrader, you go, ‘OK.’”

Despite that kind of reputation, Schrader is not one to break box office records. As he has looked back on his career, he’s been frank about not prioritizing the immediate financial success of the dozens of films he’s made.

“To me, shelf life is more valuable than the box office,” Schrader said. “I don’t expect that much from opening weekend.”

Instead, he evaluates a different set of criteria when determining how he feels about a film in his archive: “If I get it made, that’s the first level of success. If it’s taken seriously, that’s the second level of success. And if it actually works with audiences, that’s the third.”

While his films aren’t necessarily avant-garde or experimental, Schrader makes the kinds of movies talked about more among film buffs than mass audiences. His 2017 “First Reformed,” for example, will not satiate those who crave closure or clear-cut endings. And “Oh, Canada” is not exactly action-packed.

But Elordi rejects the notion that Schrader’s movies aren’t accessible to a wide audience.

“That kind of gives you like this elitist feel, you know? I hate that cinema conversation,” he said. “There’s a language in cinema that doesn’t really take a long time to learn if you are sort of watching healthy things.”

Still, Elordi acknowledged certain movies require patience and a willingness to sit with ambiguity.

“My mom says stuff like that to me all the time. She’s like, ‘Yeah, but the movie can’t just end. Like, I need to know about this, this and this.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, the movie can just end, and you can go away and think about it,’” he said.

This image released by Kino Lorber shows filmmaker Paul Schrader, left, with actor Jacob Elordi on the set of "Oh, Canada." (Jeong Park/Kino Lorber via AP)