Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming, Inc. is an operator of casinos and racetracks based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. It operates 44 facilities in the United States and Canada, many of them under the Hollywood Casino brand. The company also owns a 36% stake in Barstool Sports. In 2013, Penn completed the corporate spin-off of Gaming and Leisure Properties, a real estate investment trust.

In 1967, Pennsylvania enacted a law allowing thoroughbred horse racing with parimutuel wagering. Two companies that later formed part of Penn National Gaming were founded in 1968 by groups seeking one of the four available racing licenses: Pitt Park Raceway, Inc., formed by several Erie area businessmen, and the Pennsylvania National Turf Club, established by a group of Central Pennsylvania investors. The Turf Club was awarded one of the licenses, and soon began construction on Penn National Race Course. The complex included a motor speedway, which held its first races in 1971, and the horse track, which opened in 1972.

Pitt Park Raceway, meanwhile, was denied in its initial application, but received one of a second round of licenses issued in 1970. The first Pitt Park racing meet opened in 1971 at The Meadows, an existing harness racing track. Pitt Park lost half a million dollars in its first meet, leading its owners to sell the company to a group of investors, including Philadelphia insurance businessman Peter D. Carlino. After another unsuccessful season at The Meadows, Pitt Park changed its name to the Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association and moved to Penn National Race Course. Starting in 1973, as a tenant of the Turf Club, Mountainview held 100 nights of racing there each year.

In 1982, Carlino purchased Penn National Race Course from the financially struggling Turf Club. The Turf Club continued to operate its own racing meet each year, now as a tenant of Carlino.

The companies involved with Penn National Race Course were reorganized in 1994 in preparation for an initial public offering. PNRC Corp., which had been incorporated in 1982, was renamed as Penn National Gaming, with Mountainview and the Turf Club as its subsidiaries.[21] Carlino's son, Peter M. Carlino, who had earlier managed Mountainview, was Penn National's first CEO, a position he held until 2013. In May 1994, Penn National Gaming became a public company via an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, raising $18 million to pay down debt and fund construction of off-track betting parlors.

-Freehold Raceway – Freehold, New Jersey (50% ownership)

-Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kansas (50% ownership)

-Sam Houston Race Park Ltd. (50% ownership)

-Sam Houston Race Park – Houston, Texas

-Valley Race Park – Harlingen, Texas

-Sanford–Orlando Kennel Club – Longwood, Florida