PENN Entertainment has laid off around 75 members of content, sales and other staff at its Canadian subsidiary theScore, according to various reports.
As per Canadian Gaming Business, the impacted employees were informed they were relieved of their duties last Thursday.
The cuts have seen the company’s editorial team halved in size, while several sales figures are also believed to have departed.
The sports media company’s first significant entry into the gambling market came in 2019 when theScore Bet was launched in New Jersey.
PENN acquired theScore in October 2021 as part of a $2bn cash-and-stock deal, before theScore Bet was launched in Ontario six months later after the Canadian province’s regulated market went live in April 2022.
Over the last 12 months, PENN has overseen three rounds of redundancies within its interactive segment, this being the third.
In a two-month period between July and September 2024, multiple members of the ESPN Bet team were laid off.
According to an internal letter to shareholders from CEO Jay Snowden, the July round of redundancies came as part of an effort to “streamline reporting lines, enhance operational efficiencies and leverage shared resources across PENN”.
Just two months ago, PENN unveiled a new standalone theScore Casino app in Ontario, running on the same proprietary technology the company uses to power its Hollywood Casino app.
Plans for theScore Bet to go live in Alberta once its regulated market launches early next year are still expected to go ahead.
In February, PENN CEO Snowden praised theScore’s performance while speaking to investors on an earnings call.
“TheScore and theScore Bet continue to be a very good story for us in Canada,” the CEO explained.
“Ontario is our number one market in North America in terms of revenues, gross profit and contribution margin today.”
PENN’s lay-offs also come at a time when the company faces significant scrutiny from shareholders, most notably from activist investor HG Vora.
The New York-based investment group recently accused the operator of “value-destructive deal-making, reckless capital allocation and poor execution”.
The purchase of theScore is believed to have been one of the deals HG Vora viewed as an example of poor strategy.
A dispute over the lineup of PENN’s board of directors soon followed, with HG Vora nominating three candidates, before the ESPN Bet operator changed the number of seats available from three to two.
EGR has contacted PENN Entertainment for comment.
The post Report: PENN Entertainment lays off more than 75 theScore employees first appeared on EGR Intel.
Company’s turbulent year continues as third round of redundancies hit its interactive arm, despite recent praise for Canadian subsidiary from CEO Jay Snowden
The post Report: PENN Entertainment lays off more than 75 theScore employees first appeared on EGR Intel.