{"id":172472,"date":"2021-05-03T08:36:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=172472"},"modified":"2021-05-03T12:03:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T19:03:50","slug":"penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn National Buys HitPoint Studios, LuckyPoint to Fortify New Gaming Unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) has announced the creation of Penn Game Studios (PGS). It is a unit dedicated to developing new online casino games, and a recent acquisition is aimed at bolstering that fresh business.<\/p>\n

\"HitPoint
HitPoint Studios co-founder Aaron St. John. Penn National is acquiring his company. (Image: MassLive<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Pennsylvania-based casino operator said it’s purchasing HitPoint Studios, Inc. and LuckyPoint Inc. The latter is the real money gaming company previously spun-off from HitPoint. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed. Penn National said the deal \u201cis expected to close in the near term.\u201d The acquisition could function as a complement to the operator’s burgeoning Barstool Sportsbook<\/a> brand.<\/p>\n

“We will now have the ability to create exclusive content for our audiences, further leverage the Barstool Sports brand and our database of 20 million mychoice customers, and create cross-marketing opportunities with our brick and mortar facilities,\u201d said Penn National CEO Jay Snowden in a statement.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts-based HitPoint was founded in 2008. It spun out LuckyPoint in 2019 to focus on the development of real money games.<\/p>\n

Penn iGaming Push<\/h2>\n

The Ameristar operator’s announcement on PGS and subsequent dealmaking come as more industry observers are forecasting massive growth for iGaming.<\/p>\n

\n

While sports betting garners most of the attention, Goldman Sachs estimates<\/a> internet casinos will grow to a $14 billion industry in 2033, up from $1.5 billion today. Last month, MGM Resorts International CO Bill Hornbuckle called iGaming \u201cThe secret to this business,\u201d noting that it will eventually drive two-thirds of the bottom line in the arena.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Analysts see more legislative catalysts looming for online casinos, as far fewer states currently allow those compared to sports betting. Just five states permit online casinos, compared to sports betting’s 27 and Washington, DC, territories where sports betting is either legal or live and legal. Additionally, iGaming economics<\/a> are more compelling than sports betting, because margins are superior and gamblers, on average, are more devoted to internet casino games than sports wagering.<\/p>\n

What Penn Is Buying<\/h2>\n

HitPoint could ultimately prove to be a shrewd acquisition for Penn, as the operator seeks a deeper bench of online gaming offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHitPoint has created more than fifty games for some of the largest publishers and brands in the industry, including Microsoft, Ellen DeGeneres, EA\/PopCap, Disney, Google, and NBCUniversal,\u201d <\/strong>according to the statement.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned LuckyPoint business offers web-based slots and table games across desktop and mobile platforms. HitPoint and LuckyPoint will be folded into Penn National\u2019s wholly-owned interactive division, Penn Interactive Ventures.<\/p>\n

Revenue and profitability metrics for the newly acquired brands weren’t disclosed, and Penn National didn’t say if the purchase would be accretive to earnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) has announced the creation of Penn Game Studios (PGS). It is a unit dedicated to developing new online casino games, and a recent acquisition is aimed at bolstering that fresh business. The Pennsylvania-based casino operator said it’s purchasing HitPoint Studios, Inc. and LuckyPoint Inc. The latter is the real money gaming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":172473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,32093],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPenn National Buying HitPoint Studios to Bolster iGaming Portfolio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Penn National is making iGaming moves, buying HitPoint Studios to expand its online games roster.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Penn National Buying HitPoint Studios to Bolster iGaming Portfolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Penn National is making iGaming moves, buying HitPoint Studios to expand its online games roster.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/\" \/>\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=\"2021-05-03T15:36:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-03T19:03:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hitpoint.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"876\" \/>\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=\"2 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-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/\",\"name\":\"Penn National Buying HitPoint Studios to Bolster iGaming Portfolio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hitpoint.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-03T15:36:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-03T19:03:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Penn National is making iGaming moves, buying HitPoint Studios to expand its online games roster.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-national-buying-hitpoint-studios-to-bolster-igaming-portfolio\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hitpoint.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/hitpoint.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":876,\"caption\":\"HitPoint Studios co-founder Aaron St. John. 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