{"id":271508,"date":"2023-05-02T14:49:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T19:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=271508"},"modified":"2023-05-03T14:28:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T19:28:05","slug":"penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Portnoy’s Potential Departure Positive for Penn Entertainment Says Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not guaranteed to happen, but Barstool Sports<\/em> founder David Portnoy could leave the company in the future, potentially increasing the pool of buyers should Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) opt to sell the business.<\/p>\n

\"Penn
Barstool Sports<\/em> founder David Portnoy. If he leaves the company, more buyers could emerge, said an analyst. (Image: The New York Times<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s the take of Roth MKM analyst Edward Engel. In a report to clients on Tuesday, Engel upgraded the regional casino operator and mentioned that the company could eventually look to unlock shareholder value by selling Barstool <\/em>and Score Media, two of its media acquisitions aimed at bolstering its online sports betting footprint.<\/p>\n

Rather than sit on high-value Barstool\/Score assets, we believe management will eventually resort to strategic alternatives. We estimate a transaction could value digital segments at $3.3bn (3.0x 2024E sales, 35x EBITDA), where any proceeds could be used for deleveraging Penn’s 4.4x net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs (EBITDAR),\u201d wrote\u00a0 Engel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In February, Penn paid $388 million<\/a> for the 64% of Barstool Sports<\/em> it didn\u2019t previously own, bringing the total acquisition price for Portnoy\u2019s company to $551 million. The casino operator shelled out $2 billion<\/a> in cash and equity to acquire Score Media and Gaming in August 2021 in a bid to gain more technology and access to the Canadian sports betting market.<\/p>\n

Not the First Time Barstool Sale Rumors Surfaced<\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time an analyst has discussed the idea of Penn potentially mulling the sale of Barstool. However,<\/em> such a transaction will unlikely materialize over the near- or medium-term.<\/p>\n

\n

In February, reports suggested<\/a> Penn could part with the media entity because media isn\u2019t the gaming firm\u2019s core competency. Penn could ultimately license the Barstool name for its sportsbooks and online casino. Should Portnoy depart, more buyers could kick the tires on Penn\u2019s media assets, according to Engel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBarstool’s founder has nonchalantly discussed leaving Barstool in \u2018like two years,\u2019 and Portnoy\u2019s departure would increase the pool of partners\/buyers,\u201d Engel added. \u201cScore’s success in Ontario also proves a media\/OSB strategy can work, and implies Barstool could be more successful under ownership more willing to aggressively invest in US user growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outspoken Portnoy has often been a lightning rod for controversy, prompting debate in the investment community<\/a> about whether or not that juice is worth the squeeze for Penn.<\/p>\n

Penn Upgrade Details<\/h2>\n

Ahead of Penn\u2019s first-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Engel upgraded the stock to \u201cbuy\u201d from \u201cneutral\u201d with a $40 price target, implying a significant upside from current levels around $30.50.<\/p>\n

\n

The analyst says the narrative is building in 2023 for Penn to evaluate strategic alternatives for its digital businesses. The operator may be compelled to do that because market participants don\u2019t seem to appreciate the media assets as part of the broader Penn portfolio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhile OSB\/iGaming share gains in 2H23 can be a catalyst for PENN, we believe management can unlock value even if Barstool’s market share underwhelms,\u201d concluded Engel. \u201cPENN’s ~9% 2023E free cash flow yield is comparable to regional gaming peers and implies minimal value for digital segments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not guaranteed to happen, but Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy could leave the company in the future, potentially increasing the pool of buyers should Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) opt to sell the business. That\u2019s the take of Roth MKM analyst Edward Engel. In a report to clients on Tuesday, Engel upgraded the regional casino […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":247096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,32093,1],"tags":[81903,81966,81967],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPenn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Penn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-02T19:49:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-03T19:28:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/\",\"name\":\"Penn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-02T19:49:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-03T19:28:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy. If he leaves the company, more buyers could emerge, said an analyst. (Image: The New York Times)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Portnoy’s Potential Departure Positive for Penn Entertainment Says Analyst\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Penn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves","description":"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Penn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves","og_description":"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-05-02T19:49:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-03T19:28:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/","name":"Penn Could Find More Barstool Buyers If Portnoy Leaves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-02T19:49:10+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-03T19:28:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"More Barstool suitors could emerge if Portnoy leaves Penn, says Roth MKM analyst.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/22betting-barstool-print-01-superJumbo-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy. If he leaves the company, more buyers could emerge, said an analyst. (Image: The New York Times)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-could-find-more-barstool-buyers-if-portnoy-leaves\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Portnoy’s Potential Departure Positive for Penn Entertainment Says Analyst"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}