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PENN Entertainment Announces Plans for New Land-Based Hollywood Casino to Replace Riverboat Gaming Operations in Council Bluffs, Iowa

PENN Entertainment Announces Plans for New Land-Based Hollywood Casino to Replace Riverboat Gaming Operations in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Business Wire24-04-2025
WYOMISSING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PENN Entertainment, Inc. ('PENN' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today plans for an expected $180–$200 million project to relocate its Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs ('Ameristar') riverboat casino operations to a new, state-of-the-art land-based property to be rebranded as Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs ('Hollywood Council Bluffs'). The proposal was approved by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission this morning in conjunction with a 15-year extension of Ameristar's partnership with the nonprofit Qualified Sponsoring Organization ('QSO') Iowa West Racing Association. All commercial operators in Iowa are required to have an operating agreement with a QSO licensed to conduct gaming operations.
Under the proposed plan, the new Hollywood Council Bluffs is expected to include roughly 125,000 square feet of new development with approximately 58,000 square feet of gaming space and more than 1,000 positions on a single level. The new facility will complement the existing ESPN BET sportsbook, 160-room hotel and dining options in the landside portion of the current infrastructure. The existing riverboat, which presently offers gaming spread out over three levels, will be vacated upon opening of the new property.
'We are pleased to add another landside relocation to our pipeline of development projects,' said Todd George, Executive Vice President of Operations for PENN. 'This project will enhance the quality and efficiency of our Council Bluffs location and significantly improve the property's competitive positioning in the greater Omaha market. PENN's diversified portfolio of casino properties is core to our omni-channel approach to entertainment, which combines our best-in-class retail operations and a database of more than 32 million PENN Play members with our robust interactive and media footprint. We thank the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for their approval today and are grateful for the continued collaboration with our partners at the Iowa West Racing Association.'
'We are thrilled with the exciting development plans for the new Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs,' said Brenda Mainwaring, President & CEO of the Iowa West Racing Association. 'For nearly thirty years, the Ameristar riverboat has been providing not only dining and entertainment, but thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in support of our community. PENN's commitment to reinvesting in Council Bluffs is laudable and we are grateful for our ongoing partnership.'
Construction of the new facility is expected to take approximately 18-24 months following the design and permitting approval process. The Company is entitled to obtain financing for the project from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. ('GLPI') (Nasdaq: GLPI) of up to $150 million at a 7.10% cap rate, which may be structured at PENN's option as either rent or a 5-year term loan that is pre-payable at any time without penalty.
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 28 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 approximately 32 million members a unique set of rewards and experiences.
Forward Looking Statement
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, 2024. 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.
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After Soaring Nearly 100% So Far This Year, Where Will Palantir Stock Be at the End of 2025?
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Yahoo

timean hour ago

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After Soaring Nearly 100% So Far This Year, Where Will Palantir Stock Be at the End of 2025?

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More stock market records, more trade deals, more trade talks — plus, lots of earnings
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Allied Gaming & Entertainment Urges Stockholders to Take Caution Against Misleading and Factually Incorrect Statements Issued by Knighted Pastures Regarding ISS Report
Allied Gaming & Entertainment Urges Stockholders to Take Caution Against Misleading and Factually Incorrect Statements Issued by Knighted Pastures Regarding ISS Report

Business Wire

time2 hours ago

  • Business Wire

Allied Gaming & Entertainment Urges Stockholders to Take Caution Against Misleading and Factually Incorrect Statements Issued by Knighted Pastures Regarding ISS Report

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allied Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGAE) (the 'Company', 'AGAE' or 'Allied'), a global experiential entertainment company, announced today that a leading independent proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ('ISS'), has recommended withhold votes on five of the six director candidates that Knighted Pastures, LLC ('Knighted' or the 'dissident') has proposed at AGAE's upcoming combined 2024/2025 Annual Meeting on August 4, 2025. The Company also urges stockholders to take caution against relying on statements made by Knighted in its press release on the ISS recommendation. Of particular note, Knighted's claim that ISS recommended stockholders to vote for the election of Knighted's Class B director candidates to the Company's Board of Directors is factually incorrect. In fact, ISS recommended that stockholders vote for just one of Knighted's candidates, Roy Choi. 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'Over all periods of measurement through the unaffected date, AGAE's TSR outperformed the median of its peers …' 'TSR over the one-year period is positive …' '[T]he company's cash balances remain healthy …' The Allied Gaming Board of Directors has been and remains committed to acting in the best interests of all stockholders and unanimously recommends that stockholders vote "FOR" all six of AGAE's director nominees standing for election – Jingsheng (Jason) Lu, Guanzhou (Jerry) Qin, Mao Sun, Roy Anderson, Yushi Guo and Chi Zhao – on the WHITE proxy card today. PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT IN ALLIED GAMING. REJECT ROY CHOI AND HIS NOMINEES BY VOTING THE WHITE PROXY CARD TODAY 'FOR' ALL SIX OF ALLIED GAMING'S NOMINEES, AND 'WITHHOLD' ON THE THREE KNIGHTED NOMINEES WE URGE YOU NOT TO SIGN OR RETURN ANY PROXY CARD OR VOTING INSTRUCTION FORM THAT MAY BE SENT TO YOU BY KNIGHTED. If you have any questions or need assistance in voting your WHITE proxy card, we encourage you to call our proxy advisers, MacKenzie Partners, Inc., Toll-Free at (800) 322-2885 or (212) 929-5500 or by email at AGAE@ Remember, you may be able to vote your shares by telephone, internet, and QR code voting may be available. Please refer to your proxy card/voting instruction form for details. If you have any questions or need assistance in voting your shares, please contact our proxy solicitor: MacKenzie Partners, Inc. 7 Penn Plaza, #503 New York, New York 10001 (212) 929-5500 (Call Collect) or Call Toll-Free (800) 322-2885 Email: AGAE@ Expand Advisors Paul Hastings LLP is serving as legal counsel, MacKenzie Partners, Inc. is serving as proxy solicitor and ADDO IR is serving as strategic communications advisor to AGAE. About Allied Gaming & Entertainment Allied Gaming & Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: AGAE) is a global experiential entertainment company focused on providing a growing world of gamers and concertgoers with unique experiences through renowned assets, products and services. For more information, visit Forward Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include our statements regarding our goals, beliefs, strategies, objectives, plans, including product and service developments, future financial conditions, results or projections or current expectations. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'expect,' 'plan,' 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'estimate,' 'predict,' 'potential,' 'intend' or 'continue,' the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Specific forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our ability to execute on strategic and business plans and drive stockholder value, our projections on Allied Gaming's future financial performance and expense structure and our beliefs on the impact of Knighted director nominations and other actions of Knighted on the performance of the Company. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, many of which are outside our control, that may cause actual results to be materially different from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by us, or any person, that the objectives of Allied Gaming will be achieved. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include: risks associated with our strategy, future direction or governance; the substantial uncertainties inherent in the acceptance of existing and future products and services; risks associated with our ability to retain key personnel; risks related to our common stock and the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market; risks associated with intellectual property; uncertainty around current and potential litigation and related legal expenses; and general economic, political and market conditions and events. You should consider the areas of risk described in connection with any forward-looking statements that may be made herein and other risk factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'), including those factors discussed under the caption 'Risk Factors' in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on June 9, 2025, as well as subsequent reports filed with the SEC. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures we made in such Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports with the SEC. We assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law, to reflect events or circumstances occurring after today's date.

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