PENN shifts focus to Canada in pursuit of online casino gains
CEO Jay Snowden says the country is certain to become its strongest market from a margin and profitability perspective given Ontario and soon-to-launch Alberta have sports betting and icasino
PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden has said the Canadian market will be the main focus going forward as the operator seeks further gains in the online casino segment.
The company generated online casino revenue of $70.9m for the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 14.9% compared to the corresponding period last year.
Meanwhile, online sports betting revenue rose 5.2% year over year to $65.2m.
Earlier this month, it was confirmed Alberta would launch its regulated online gambling market in July, becoming the second Canadian province to do so after Ontario.
Speaking on PENN’s Q1 analyst call yesterday, April 23, Snowden confirmed the business has shifted attention to north of the border.
“Our focus is on Canada and getting ready for the Alberta launch,” he said. “We feel good about the setup there. We’ve done a lot of analysis on what worked for us with the Ontario launch and what maybe didn’t.
“We’re doing more of the right things and we expect to deliver market share results in Alberta that would look very similar to what we’ve generated in Ontario, where we continue to have momentum.
“I think you will definitely see higher growth from icasino than you will from OSB [online sports betting]. It really depends on how the market is growing, but I would expect for us to be at or above market growth in icasino and OSB.”
PENN first launched its standalone online casino app, Hollywood Casino, in Ontario in April 2025, while the company also operates theScore Bet in the province and live scores app theScore nationwide.
TheScore Bet is also live in 21 US states after PENN and ESPN announced last November the early termination of their 10-year online sports betting partnership. PENN paid $2bn for Score Media and Gaming Inc in 2021.
Snowden went as far as to suggest Canada could be the operator’s most profitable market moving forward.
“Canada is going to be out strongest margin market in North America. Part of that is driven by volume and market share, and part of that is driven by tax rate and the fact you have icasino and OSB.
“There’s no doubt that Canada, for us, is going to be market number one from a margin and profitability perspective. But we’re in a lot more markets in the US, and the states that have both OSB and icasino are going to see much stronger margin than the OSB-only states.
“We’re of the opinion that it’s probably a matter of time before many of these OSB-only states turn to some form of igaming, and we want to stay in the business and be ready for when that day comes.”
PENN shares are up 14% to $16.83 so far this year, at the time of writing.