Penn CEO: Alberta Is a Cog in Company’s Digital Outlook for 2026
Posted on: August 9, 2025, 12:53h.
Last updated on: August 9, 2025, 12:56h.
- Penn CEO Snowden looks at Alberta launch in 2026
- Company reports best quarter in its history for igaming
- Layoff severance costs at theScore in June factored into Q2 results
Penn Entertainment has been taking a lot of slings from disgruntled shareholders over the company’s direction in digital gaming, specifically its ESPN BET venture, as Casino.org financial reporter Todd Shriber has detailed, but an earnings call Thursday pointed to growth there, and Canada is a big part of that.
Interactive Revenue Up
PENN last week reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, highlighted by the company’s best quarter ever for online gaming.
Over the quarter, online gaming generated USD $316.1 million in revenues, up from USD $232.6 million over the same quarter in 2024, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD $62 million (USD $102.8 million in Q2 2024).
Over the first six months of the year interactive revenues were USD $606.2 million (up from USD $440.3 million).
Severance Costs at theScore Impact Financial Results
During an earnings call Thursday, the company highlighted upcoming product enhancements, led by the introduction of new engagement features on ESPN BET, like Player Insights, allowing bettors to better analyze player stats as it relates to player prop betting.
And this fall the company launches FanCenter, just in time for NFL season, a “personalised hub” within ESPN BET that will allow players to easily find wagering markets based on their favourite teams, players and ESPN fantasy football rosters.
Alberta Launch in 2026
We achieved record quarterly revenue in both OSB and icasino in Q2, and while still plenty of work to do, we delivered significant year over year improvement in adjusted revenue and adjusted EBITDA,” said PENN Entertainment CEO and President Jay Snowden during the earnings call.
The ESPN and NFL eco-system changed dramatically this past week with the announcement of a deal where ESPN purchased the NFL Network and other media assets owned by the league, including the popular RedZone and NFL Fantasy, in exchange for NFL equity in ESPN. That will meld with ESPN Fantasy to create a behemothic new platform that PENN looks to leverage via its 10-year deal with ESPN signed in 2023.
“We have much improved KYC, we have real personalization this year that not only flows through the app, but flows into FanCenter,” said Penn’s Chief Technology Officer Aaron LaBerge. “We do have better brand marketing, and a truly differentiating feature that no other sportsbook has. Nobody else is a partner with ESPN Fantasy, the biggest fantasy platform in the U.S., that is integrated with our product.
“And it’s going to be clear in our marketing messaging, that this is a feature that if you’re a fantasy player, that you might want to try out. Last year, we were marketing the brand of ESPN BET, but we didn’t have something distinct enough to hook on to, to make that compelling.”
Half of Newsroom at theScore Let Go
“These new rollouts are driving engagement. Since the spring, we have seen strong and consistent year over year growth in first time betters, which are most recently up over 50% year over year in July,” Snowden told investors. “Similarly, first time deposits have more than doubled year over year in July.”
Canada was a part of those remarks regarding company financials – the results there included USD $2.9 million in severance costs as a result of layoffs at theScore in Toronto announced in June, where 75 employees were let go, including half of the editorial department.
These results include approximately $2.9 million in severance costs incurred as part of our strategic workforce adjustments to drive efficiencies and support a modern, scalable technology infrastructure,” Snowden said. “Excluding that one-time expense, we would have come in slightly ahead of the midpoint of our digital Q2 guide and consensus.”
Alberta Government Engaging With Stakeholders
The company forecasts “modest” year-over-year growth in market share for U.S. OSB handle, excluding New York, of 3.4% in Q3 and 4% in Q4. For icasino, GGR market share, PENN expects 3% in Q3 and 3.2% in Q4.
In Canada, iGaming Ontario doesn’t release financial data tied to any of the 50 licensed operators individually, instead releasing market performance data overall. But it’s been reported in the past that theScore owns double-digit market share in Ontario.
With the Ontario regulated market coming up on the end of its fourth year in operation, focus now shifts to Alberta, and the rollout of that provincial’s open, regulated igaming market, reported on Casino.org to be early 2026.
No Timetable
An industry source told Casino.org today that while a specific launch date, even a month, has yet to be set, the Alberta government is “doing all the right things”, engaging the industry, which is positive. But nobody’s talking about timetable.
Snowden was asked about Alberta during the earnings call Thursday.
“We know that Alberta is going to launch at some point, and we think early ‘26 from what we’ve been told,” he said. “So that’s built into our assumptions. We’re targeting right now. Q1 which is the best information we have.”
No comments yet