ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business is subject to risks and uncertainties. You should consider carefully, among other things, the risks described below, together with the other information in this report, before making an investment decision with respect to our securities. The occurrence of any of the following risks, or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Summary of Risk Factors
The following is a summary of the principal risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. This summary should not be considered a substitute for the detailed risk factors described below.
Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Market Conditions
• The gaming, media, and entertainment industries are highly competitive, and we expect competition to continue to intensify, including as a result of growing competition from new forms of gaming such as prediction markets.
• Our business is sensitive to reductions in discretionary consumer spending, which may be adversely impacted by downturns in the economy and other factors outside of our control.
• Our results of operations fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors, which could make our future operating results difficult to predict.
• Participation in the sports betting industry exposes us to trading, liability management, and pricing risk.
• Shareholder activists have, and could in the future, cause a disruption to, or have an adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Our Operations
• We generate a significant percentage of our revenues from certain geographic regions and our ability to meet our operating and debt service requirements is dependent, in part, upon the continued success of these regions.
• A significant portion of our cash flow from operations is used to make interest payments and rent payments under our debt and lease agreements.
• We may require additional capital to support our growth plans, and such capital may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
• There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively or generate sufficient returns from our OSB and iCasino operations, including theScore Bet and Hollywood iCasino.
• The success, including win or hold rates, of existing or future retail, sports betting, and iCasino products depends on a variety of factors, including factors beyond our control.
• We face the risk of fraud, theft, and cheating.
• We are subject to risks associated with leased property, as most of our facilities are leased.
• Our operations in several jurisdictions depend on development agreements, management agreements and/or leases with third parties and local governments that may not be renewed or the terms of a renewal may require significant fees or capital expenditure commitments.
• We rely on third parties to provide services that are essential to the operation of our OSB and iCasino business, including geolocation, identity and age verification, payment processing, and sports data.
• The termination of our partnership with ESPN could negatively impact our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations.
• The success of our business is largely dependent on the skill and experience of management and key personnel, and our ability to attract and retain talented team members.
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• We face risks related to collective bargaining activity and strikes.
• We may be unable to protect or may not be successful in protecting our intellectual property rights.
• Our commercial success depends upon us avoiding the infringement of intellectual property rights owned by others.
• Our technology contains third-party open source software components.
• We may face disruption and other difficulties in integrating and managing acquired operations or other initiatives we have recently acquired, may develop, or may acquire in the future.
• We operate facilities that are located in areas that experience extreme weather conditions, which may increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change.
• Our growth and success depend, in part, on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
• The growth of our Interactive segment will depend on our ability to attract and retain users, which may require investments in our online offerings, technology, and strategic marketing initiatives.
• We follow the sports betting industry practice of restricting and managing betting limits at the individual customer level, with limits determined by customer profiles and acceptable enterprise risk; however, there is no guarantee that gaming regulatory authorities will continue to allow operators to follow such practices.
• We extend credit to a portion of our customers who wager at our retail properties, and we may not be able to collect gaming receivables from our credit customers.
• We face a number of challenges prior to opening new or upgraded gaming properties, launching iCasino and sports betting in new jurisdictions, or launching new iCasino or sports betting offerings.
Legal and Regulatory Risk Factors
• We face extensive regulation from gaming regulatory authorities.
• We are subject to certain federal, state, provincial and other regulations.
• From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings, and no assurance can be provided as to the outcome of these matters.
• State and local smoking restrictions have and may continue to negatively affect our business.
• Changes to consumer privacy laws could adversely affect our ability to market our products effectively and may require us to change our business practices or expend significant amounts on compliance with such laws.
• We may experience material increases to our taxes or the adoption of new taxes or the authorization of new or increased forms of gaming.
• We are subject to environmental laws and potential exposure to environmental liabilities.
• We are subject to risks and costs related to climate change regulations.
Risks Related to Our Information Systems and Technology
• If our third-party mobile application distribution platforms or service providers do not perform adequately or terminate their relationships with us, our business may be disrupted or our costs may increase.
• If internet and other technology-based service providers experience service interruptions, our ability to conduct our business may be impaired.
• We rely on third party cloud infrastructure services to deliver our offerings to users, and we have experienced, and expect in the future to experience, service interruptions, delays, and outages.
• Our information technology and other systems are subject to cybersecurity risk, including misappropriation of employee information, customer information or other breaches of information security.
• We have begun using artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and similar technologies in our business, and challenges with properly managing such technologies could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business, Industry, and Market Conditions
The gaming, media, and entertainment industries are highly competitive, and we expect competition to continue to intensify, including as a result of growing competition from new forms of gaming such as prediction markets.
The gaming, media, and entertainment industries are characterized by an increasingly high degree of competition among a large number of participants. We compete with a variety of gaming operations, including casinos and hotel casinos of varying quality and size, and other gaming options, such as state and province-sponsored internet lotteries, sweepstakes (including sweepstakes-based OSB and online casino), charitable gaming, video gaming terminals at bars, restaurants, taverns and truck stops, illegal slot machines and skill games, fantasy sports, historical horse racing gaming terminals, prediction markets and other event contracts related to sports or other future outcomes, such as political elections, and third-party internet or mobile-based gaming platforms, including both legal and illegal iCasino and sports betting operations.
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More generally, both our retail and interactive gaming operations face competition from all manner of leisure and entertainment activities, including shopping, athletic events, television and movies, concerts, and travel.
We and our competitors have invested in expanding existing facilities, developing new facilities, and acquiring established facilities in existing markets. We expect this significant competition to continue, which may require us to undertake additional substantial capital expenditures to maintain and enhance the competitive positioning of our properties and the attractiveness of our facilities. There can be no assurance that we will have sufficient funds, or be able to obtain sufficient financing, to undertake such expenditures or that we will realize an adequate return on such expenditures. If we are unable to make such expenditures, our competitive position could be materially adversely affected.
Similarly, there is significant competition among iCasino and OSB providers, and certain competitors have achieved meaningful economies of scale. This scale could result in competitors with increased financial resources and more efficient cost structures, which may enable them to offer more competitive products, gain a larger market share, expand offerings, adopt aggressive pricing or promotional policies, and broaden their geographic scope of operations. In addition, iCasino and online sports betting providers face growing competition from prediction markets. The regulatory and legal frameworks applicable to prediction markets are complex, evolving and may involve overlapping federal and state oversight, and we are continuing to monitor developments in this area. If our offerings are not competitive, including as a result of our competitors adopting or developing new technologies, such as using artificial intelligence to enhance their product offerings and marketing efforts, or innovative products more quickly or successfully than us, our Interactive segment’s business, financial condition, and results of operations could suffer.
Our business is sensitive to reductions in discretionary consumer spending, which may be adversely impacted by downturns in the economy and other factors outside of our control.
Our business is particularly sensitive to downturns in the economy and the associated impact on discretionary spending on leisure activities. As a regional operator, our in-person customers are predominately local, so we compete for more day-to-day discretionary spending as compared with destination spending. Decreases in discretionary consumer spending or changes in consumer preferences, including as a result of perceived or actual adverse economic conditions or inflation, changes in interest or unemployment rates, government shutdowns, tight credit conditions, increased housing, energy, food and travel costs, global hostilities, trade disputes, including the imposition of new or increased tariffs, political or social unrest, widespread illnesses, or other factors beyond our control, could adversely affect the gaming and entertainment industries and demand for our products and amenities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
For example, the U.S. has recently announced certain changes, and has proposed additional changes, in trade policies, including imposing significant tariffs on imports from other countries. These actions have resulted, and are expected to further result, in responsive actions by impacted countries. There continues to be significant uncertainty regarding the extent and duration of the tariffs, and any resulting economic downturns or market volatility may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our results of operations fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors, which could make our future operating results difficult to predict.
Our online sportsbook, retail sportsbook, and core retail business operations fluctuate due to seasonal trends and other factors. For example, we have experienced sports betting volume decreases during applicable off-seasons and increases during significant sporting events. In addition, the performance of certain individual athletes or teams may significantly impact our financial performance. Our retail gaming operations are also subject to seasonality, including seasonality based on the weather in the markets in which they operate, specific holidays, or other significant events.
The operations of our properties are subject to disruptions or reduced patronage, including as a result of severe weather conditions, natural disasters, acts or threats of terrorism, concerns about widespread illnesses, and other significant events. The closings of, or reduced visitation volumes at, our properties due to such events have in the past and may in the future result in lost profits, and there can be no assurances that we will be fully or promptly compensated by our business interruption insurance coverage, if at all. Also, the costs of insurance against these types of events has increased in recent years. In addition, the occurrence of such an event may adversely impact general economic or other conditions in the areas in which our properties are located or from which they draw their patrons, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Further, a customer’s skill, experience, and behavior, the mix of games played, the financial resources of customers, the volume of bets placed and the amount of time spent playing may also impact our financial performance.
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Participation in the sports betting industry exposes us to trading, liability management, and pricing risk.
Our fixed-odds betting products involve betting where winnings are paid on the basis of the stake placed and the odds quoted. Odds are determined with the objective of providing an average return to us over a large number of events. However, there can be significant variation in gross win percentage on an event-by-event and day-by-day basis. We have systems and controls that seek to reduce the risk of daily losses occurring on a gross-win basis, but there can be no assurance that these will be effective in reducing our exposure, and consequently our exposure to this risk in the future, including because such risk is impacted by factors that are beyond our control, such as a customer’s skill, experience, and behavior, the mix of games played, the financial resources of customers, the volume of bets placed and the amount of time spent playing. As a result, in the short term, there is less certainty of generating a positive gross win, and we may experience (and we have from time to time experienced) significant losses with respect to individual events or betting outcomes, in particular if large individual bets are placed on an event or betting outcome or series of events or betting outcomes. Odds compilers and risk managers are capable of human , thus even though a number of betting products are subject to capped pay-outs, significant can occur. In addition, it is possible that there may be such a high volume of trading during any particular period that even automated systems would be to address and eradicate all risks. Any significant on a gross- basis could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, if a jurisdiction where we hold or wish to apply for a license imposes a high handle tax on betting (as to a gross- or revenue tax), such action would impact , particularly with high value/low margin bets, and likewise have a material effect on our business.
Shareholder activists have, and could in the future, cause a disruption to, or have an adverse effect on, our business.
We have been subject to shareholder activism and may be subject to such activism in the future, which may include proxy solicitations, shareholder proposals or other actions by activists to effect changes to the Company or to assert influence on the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) and management. For example, in January 2025, HG Vora Capital Management, LLC (“HG Vora”) notified our Board that it had nominated three director candidates to stand for election at the Company’s 2025 annual meeting of shareholders held on June 17, 2025 (the “2025 Annual Meeting”), William Clifford, Johnny Hartnett, and Carlos Ruisanchez. Subsequently, the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviewed HG Vora’s nominees in line with the Company’s normal evaluation procedures, including conducting thorough interviews with all nominees. Following this evaluation, the Board nominated Mr. Hartnett and Mr. Ruisanchez for election to the Board at the 2025 Annual Meeting for the two available Board seats. HG Vora filed a definitive proxy statement with the SEC on May 12, 2025, and sought the election of three director candidates to the Board, despite there being only two Board seats available for election. At the 2025 Annual Meeting, our shareholders elected each of Mr. Hartnett and Mr. Ruisanchez to our Board. In February 2026, the Company entered into a cooperation agreement (the “Cooperation Agreement”) with HG Vora and certain related parties, providing for, among other things, the appointment of Heather Ace, Jeffrey Fox, and Fabio Schiavolin to the Board. Pursuant to the Cooperation Agreement, HG Vora has agreed to abide by customary restrictions, and the Company and HG Vora have also agreed to certain nondisparagement obligations, in each case which remain in effect until forty-five days prior to the deadline for the submission of shareholder nominations of directors and business proposals for the Company’s 2028 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. In addition, HG Vora agreed to voluntarily the in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania captioned HG Vora Capital Management, LLC, et al. v. PENN Entertainment, Inc., et al., No. 5:25-cv-02313, which case was with on February 23, 2026. The foregoing description of the Cooperation Agreement does not to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Cooperation Agreement, a copy of which was filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2026, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Shareholder activism pursued against the Company has in the past, and may in the future, give rise to or result in, among other things: (i) increased costs, including expenses of third-party advisors, insurance, legal, administrative expenses and other associated costs; (ii) perceived uncertainties as to our future direction, which could result in reputational harm and the loss of potential business opportunities and could make it more difficult to attract, retain, or motivate qualified personnel, and strain relationships with investors, customers, suppliers, business partners, and regulators; (iii) reduction or delay in our ability to effectively and timely execute our current business strategy and to implement new strategies; (iv) diversion of the attention of our Board and management team; (v) potential litigation as a result of proposals by activist stockholders or proxy contests or matters relating thereto; (vi) adverse implications from a gaming regulatory perspective, including those arising from a shareholder activist to comply with applicable gaming laws in connection with its investment in the Company, the imposition of additional conditions for obtaining or maintaining gaming licenses or other actions that could have an impact on our gaming licenses; and (vii) fluctuations in the Company’s stock price based on temporary or speculative market perceptions, changes in our investor base, or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals and prospects of our business. Any such shareholder activism could have an effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Our Operations
We generate a significant percentage of our revenues from certain geographic regions and our ability to meet our operating and debt service requirements is dependent, in part, upon the continued success of these regions.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we generated 13.4%, 11.8%, 9.2%, and 8.4% of our revenues from our retail properties within the states of Ohio, Louisiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania respectively. As a result, our results are dependent on the regional economies and competitive landscapes in these specific markets. Our ability to meet our operating and debt service requirements is thus dependent, in part, upon the continued success of our properties in these key regions. The operating results of these retail properties may be adversely impacted by changes in local economic and competitive conditions or local and state governmental laws and regulations, including gaming laws and regulations, and the application thereof, natural and other disasters, including the effects of climate change such as severe storms, hurricanes, typhoons, rising sea levels, or severe drought, or outbreaks of infectious diseases, increases in the costs of maintaining these properties, and declines in the number of visitors or in gaming and non-gaming activities at our properties in such regions. Any of these factors could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, including our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our operating and debt service requirements.
A significant portion of our cash flow from operations is used to make interest payments and rent payments under our debt and lease agreements.
As of December 31, 2025, we had indebtedness of $2.9 billion, including $2.0 billion outstanding under our Amended Credit Facilities. We also utilize a significant portion of our cash flow from operations to make our rent payments, which were $967.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, pursuant to and subject to the terms and conditions of our Master Leases, VICI Master Lease, Margaritaville Lease (prior to December 4, 2025), Greektown Lease (prior to December 4, 2025), and Morgantown Lease, (as defined in Note 11, “Leases” in the notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements , collectively, our “Triple Net Leases”). As a result of these commitments under our Triple Net Leases, our ability to fund our own operations or development projects, raise capital, make acquisitions and otherwise respond to competitive and economic changes may be adversely affected. Further, our obligations under the Triple Net Leases may make it more difficult or restrict, as applicable, our ability to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness, obtain additional financing, raise capital, make acquisitions or divestitures, or engage in other significant transactions. Any of the aforementioned factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
There is no assurance that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us under our Amended Credit Facilities (as defined in Note 10, “Long-term Debt” in the notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements ) or otherwise in amounts sufficient to enable us to fund our liquidity needs, including with respect to our indebtedness and rent payments, or development projects. Our variable rate borrowings expose us to interest rate volatility, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly. We also may incur indebtedness related to properties we develop or acquire in the future prior to generating cash flow from those properties. For example, for the year ended December 31, 2025, we incurred project capital expenditures of $408.4 million, the majority of which are in connection with the PENN Development Projects (as defined in the “Executive Overview” within our Management’s Discussion and Analysis). If those properties or other properties we develop or acquire do not provide us with sufficient cash flow to service that indebtedness, we will need to rely on cash flow from other properties or sources, which would increase our leverage. In addition, if we consummate significant acquisitions in the future, our cash requirements may increase significantly.
We may require additional capital to support our growth plans, and such capital may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We may finance some of our current and future expansion, development and renovation projects and acquisitions with cash flow from operations, borrowings under our Amended Credit Facilities and equity or debt financings. For more information regarding our future development projects, see “Recent Development Projects” in the “Executive Overview” within our Management’s Discussion and Analysis. If we are unable to finance our current or future projects, we may need to seek alternative financing. Depending on credit market conditions, including the current high interest rate environment, alternative sources of funds may not be sufficient to finance our expansion, development and/or renovation, or such other financing may not be available on acceptable terms, in a timely manner or at all. In addition, our existing indebtedness contains restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, beyond certain levels. If we are unable to secure additional financing, we could be forced to limit or suspend expansion, development, and renovation projects and acquisitions, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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As of December 31, 2025, $406.1 million is available under our Amended Revolving Credit Facility, which expires in 2027. There is no certainty that our lenders will continue to remain solvent or fund their respective obligations under our Amended Credit Facilities. Our access to funding sources and other credit arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, the financial services industry or economy in general, including events involving limited liquidity, defaults, or non-performance, or concerns or rumors about any such events, as well as our commitments under certain agreements, including our Triple Net Leases and our indemnification obligations.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively or generate sufficient returns from our OSB and iCasino operations, including theScore Bet and Hollywood iCasino.
Certain of the jurisdictions in which we operate have legalized intra-state sports wagering and have established extensive state licensing and regulatory requirements governing any such intra-state sports wagering. As of December 31, 2025, we offer OSB in 22 jurisdictions, and we may launch OSB in additional jurisdictions in 2026. Additionally, we have entered into agreements with other OSB and iCasino operators and may enter into additional agreements with strategic partners and other third-party vendors to provide market access in certain jurisdictions.
Our sports betting and iCasino operations compete, and will continue to compete, in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive market against an increasing number of competitors. There can be no assurance that we will realize the anticipated benefits of our OSB and iCasino operations. Further, the success of our proposed sports betting and iCasino operations is dependent on a number of additional factors, many of which are beyond our control, including tax rates and license fees, our ability to gain market share, our ability to attract and retain customers, the success of our rebranding initiative across our OSB platforms in the U.S., the timeliness and viability of our products, our ability to compete with new entrants in the market (including those offering sports events through prediction markets), changes in consumer demographics and public tastes and preferences, unexpected sporting event cancellations or delays, and the availability and popularity of other forms of entertainment. There can be no assurance that our OSB and iCasino operations will be able to compete effectively or generate sufficient returns. These factors could cause the market price of our common stock to , and impact our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The success, including win or hold rates, of existing or future retail, sports betting, and iCasino products depends on a variety of factors, including factors beyond our control.
The retail and online gaming industries are characterized by an element of chance. Accordingly, we employ theoretical win rates to estimate what a certain type of gaming device, table game, sports bet or iCasino game (“Gaming Offerings”), on average, will win or lose over the long term. Net win is impacted by variations in the hold percentage (the ratio of net win to total amount wagered), or actual outcome, in Gaming Offerings. W e use hold percen tage as an indicator of the performance of the Gaming Offering to compare against its expected outcome. Although each Gaming Offering generally performs within a defined statistical range of outcomes, actual outcomes may vary for any given period. In addition to the element of chance, win rates (hold percentages) may also (depending on the game involved) be affected by the spread of limits and factors that are beyond our control, such as a customer’s skill, experience, and behavior, the mix of games played, the financial resources of customers, the volume of bets placed and the amount of time spent playing. As a result of the variability in these factors, the actual win rates on our Gaming Offerings may differ from the theoretical rates we have estimated and could result in the customer’s winnings exceeding those anticipated. For example, in the past, certain VIP patrons have placed bets or series of bets that resulted in large payouts and impacted our results of operations. Similar events caused by the variability of rates (hold rates) have the potential to impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our success also depends in part on our ability to anticipate and satisfy user preferences in a timely manner. As we operate in a dynamic environment characterized by rapidly changing industry and legal standards, our products will be subject to changing consumer preferences that cannot be predicted with certainty. We will need to continually introduce new offerings and identify future product offerings that complement our existing technology, respond to our users’ needs and improve and enhance our existing technology to maintain or increase our user engagement and growth of our business. We may not be able to compete effectively unless our product selection keeps up with trends in the retail and digital sports entertainment, sports betting, and gaming industries in which we compete, or trends in new gaming products.
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We face the risk of fraud, theft, and cheating.
We face the risk that gaming customers may attempt or commit fraud or theft or cheat in order to increase winnings. Such acts of fraud, theft, or cheating could involve the use of counterfeit chips or other tactics, possibly in collusion with our employees. Internal acts of cheating could also be conducted by employees through collusion with dealers, surveillance staff, floor managers, or other casino or gaming area staff. Additionally, we also face the risk that customers may attempt or commit fraud or theft with respect to our non-gaming offerings or against other customers. Such risks include stolen credit or charge cards or cash, falsified checks, theft of retail inventory and purchased goods, criminal use of user identification and password credentials sold on the dark web, and unpaid or counterfeit receipts. Failure to prevent or discover such acts or schemes in a timely manner may result in in our operations. In the event of the occurrence of any such issues with our existing technology or product offerings, substantial resources and management attention may be from other projects to correct these issues, which may other projects and the of our strategic objectives. publicity related to such acts or schemes could impact our reputation, potentially causing a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are subject to risks associated with leased property, as most of our facilities are leased.
We lease 36 of the facilities we operate pursuant to the Triple Net Leases. Termination of the AR PENN Master Lease, the 2023 Master Lease, or Pinnacle Master Lease could result in a default under our debt agreements and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Moreover, as a lessee, we do not completely control the land and improvements underlying our operations, and our landlords under the Triple Net Leases could take certain actions to disrupt our rights in the facilities leased under the Triple Net Leases that are beyond our control. Also, proposed development projects for facilities leased under the Triple Net Leases generally require the approval of our landlords, and delays in obtaining, or failure to obtain, such approvals could adversely impact our results of operations. In addition, our Triple Net Leases have defined escalating lease payment provisions, which can adversely impact the profitability of those leased facilities. Should some of our leased facilities prove to be , we could remain obligated for lease payments and other obligations under the Triple Net Leases in the event we operations at those locations. Further, there can be no assurance that we or our landlords will be to comply with our respective obligations under the Triple Net Leases in the future.
Our operations in several jurisdictions depend on development agreements, management agreements and/or leases with third parties and local governments that may not be renewed or the terms of a renewal may require significant fees or capital expenditure commitments.
Our operations in several jurisdictions depend on land leases and/or management and development agreements with third parties and local governments. If we, or if GLPI or VICI, in the case of leases pursuant to which we are the sub-lessee, are unable to renew these leases and agreements on satisfactory terms as they expire or if disputes arise regarding the terms of these agreements, our business may be disrupted and, in the event of disruptions in multiple jurisdictions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may also be required to pay higher fees and/or incur additional capital expenditures to renew management agreements with third parties and local governments in our existing jurisdictions, or incur higher fees and/or capital expenditures than forecasted in connection with new management agreements with third parties and local governments as we expand into new jurisdictions.
We rely on third parties to provide services that are essential to the operation of our OSB and iCasino business, including geolocation, identity and age verification, payment processing, and sports data.
We rely on third parties to provide services that are essential to the operation of our online gaming business, including geolocation, identity and age verification, payment processing, and sports data systems. These services help ensure we comply with laws and regulations, process deposits and withdrawals made by our online users, and are provided information regarding schedules, results, performance, and outcomes of sporting events to determine when and how bets are settled. The software, systems and services provided by our third-party providers may contain errors or weaknesses, be compromised or experience outages, or otherwise not meet our expectations. A failure of such third-party systems to perform effectively, or any service interruption to those systems, could adversely affect our business and give rise to regulatory issues relating to the operation of our business. By way of example, incorrect or misleading geolocation and identity verification data with respect to current or potential users received from third-party service providers may result in us inadvertently allowing access to our offerings to individuals who are not permitted to access them or otherwise access to individuals who are permitted to access them. Also, or by our payment processors and sports data providers could result in a to timely and accurately process payments to and from users or in settling bets. Any such or could result in of applicable regulatory requirements and affect our reputation and our ability to attract and retain our online users. Furthermore, publicity related to any of our third-party partners could affect our reputation and brand, and could potentially lead to increased regulatory or exposure.
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Additionally, we rely on third-party suppliers to provide gaming equipment, semiconductor chips and other supplies for our business. Supply chain delays or disruptions could impact our ability to obtain these supplies from our key suppliers on acceptable terms or at all. Any suspension or delay in our suppliers’ ability to provide us adequate equipment or supplies, or in our ability to procure equipment or supplies from other sources in a timely manner or at all, could impair our ability to meet customer demand and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations.
In addition, if any of our third-party service providers terminates its relationship with us, is unable to maintain necessary regulatory approvals, or refuses to renew its agreement with us on commercially reasonable terms, we would have to engage alternative service providers. We cannot be certain that we would be able to secure favorable terms from alternative service providers that are critical to the operation of our business or enter into alternative arrangements in a timely manner. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted by our inability to secure timely replacement services that are sufficient to support our online business on comparable terms.
The termination of our partnership with ESPN could negatively impact our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations.
On November 5, 2025, PENN and ESPN entered into the Termination Agreement to terminate the Sportsbook Agreement, effective December 1, 2025. The Sportsbook Agreement, provided an exclusive license to use the ESPN BET trademark in the U.S. and certain marketing, content integration and promotional services. In connection with the termination, we realigned our digital focus and rebranded the ESPN BET sportsbook across all online platforms in the U.S. to theScore Bet. The loss of our exclusive license and the transition from ESPN BET to theScore Bet could adversely affect our ability to attract new users to our offerings and to retain the business of existing users in a cost-effective manner. The rebranding and realignment of our digital focus led the Company to revise its future cash flow projections for the Interactive reporting unit which resulted in an impairment in our Interactive segment. There is no assurance that we will not incur future impairments or that we will realize the anticipated benefits of our rebranding initiative, and the of our partnership with ESPN could materially affect our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations.
The success of our business is largely dependent on the skill and experience of management and key personnel, and our ability to attract and retain talented team members.
The success and competitive position of our retail operations, sports betting and iCasino operations, and media businesses are largely dependent upon, among other things, the efforts and skills of our senior executives and management team, and our ability to attract and retain talented team members.
We compete with other companies both within and outside of our industry for talented personnel. If we cannot recruit, train, develop, and retain skilled and experienced personnel to our corporate, retail operations, sports betting and iCasino, and media businesses, we could experience increased employee turnover, decreased guest or user satisfaction, low morale, inefficiency, or internal control failures. Insufficient numbers of talented team members or the loss of senior executives or key personnel could also limit our ability to grow and expand our businesses. A shortage of frontline and skilled labor could also result in higher wages that would increase our labor costs, which could reduce our profits. Additionally, the increased ability of employees to work from home or in other remote work arrangements has impacted, and may continue to impact, our ability to attract and retain talented personnel.
Qualified individuals are in high demand, particularly in the technology and media industries, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. We also cannot assure that we will be able to retain our existing senior executive and key personnel or attract additional qualified senior executive and key personnel. We may use equity awards to attract talented employees, influencers and media personalities. If the value of our common stock declines significantly and remains depressed, that may prevent us from recruiting and retaining qualified talent. Our ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees, influencers and media personalities may also be adversely affected by stock price volatility.
We face risks related to collective bargaining activity and strikes.
As of December 31, 2025, a meaningful number of team members at our properties are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements. Numerous collective bargaining agreements are typically subject to negotiation each year, and our ability in the past to resolve such negotiations does not mean that we will be able to resolve future negotiations without strikes, disruptions, or on terms that we consider reasonable. If relationships with our organized associates or the unions that represent them become adverse, then the properties we operate could experience labor disruptions such as strikes, lockouts, boycotts, and public demonstrations. Labor disputes and disruptions have in the past, and could in the future, result in adverse publicity and negatively affect operations and revenues at affected properties.
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In addition, labor regulation and the negotiation of new or existing collective bargaining agreements could lead to higher wage and benefit costs, changes in work rules that increase operating expenses and legal costs, and could impose limitations on our ability or the ability of our third-party property owners to take cost saving measures during economic downturns.
Labor unions are making a concerted effort to recruit more employees in the gaming industry, and we have experienced attempts by labor organizations to organize certain of our non-union employees. We cannot provide any assurance that we will not experience additional and successful union activity in the future. The impact of this union activity is undetermined and could negatively impact our results of operations. Increased unionization of our workforce, new labor legislation or changes in regulations could disrupt our operations, reduce our profitability or interfere with the ability of our management to focus on executing our business strategies.
We may be unable to protect, or may not be successful in protecting, our intellectual property rights.
Our commercial success depends upon our ability to develop new or improved technologies and products, and to successfully obtain or acquire proprietary or statutory protection for our intellectual property rights.
We rely on, among other things, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures, and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary rights. While we enter license, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with our employees and vendors, consultants, users, potential users, and others to attempt to limit access to and distribution of proprietary and confidential information, it is possible that:
• some or all of our confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements will not be honored;
• third parties will independently develop equivalent technology or misappropriate our technology or designs;
• disputes will arise with our strategic partners, users or others concerning the ownership of intellectual property;
• unauthorized disclosure or use of our intellectual property, including source code, know-how or trade secrets will occur; or
• contractual provisions may not be enforceable.
There can be no assurance that we will be successful in protecting our intellectual property rights or that we will become aware of third-party infringements that might be occurring. Inability to protect our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition. and results of operations.
Our commercial success depends upon us avoiding the infringement of intellectual property rights owned by others.
The industries in which we compete have many participants that own, or claim to own, intellectual property, including participants that have been issued patents and may have filed patent applications or may obtain additional patents and proprietary rights for technologies similar to those used by us in our products. Some of these patents may grant very broad protection to the third-party owners. Patents can be issued very rapidly and there is often a great deal of secrecy surrounding pending patent applications. We cannot determine with certainty whether any existing third-party patents or the issuance of any new third-party patents would require us to alter our technologies, pay for licenses, challenge the validity or enforceability of the patents, or cease certain activities. Third parties may assert intellectual property infringement claims against us and against our partners and/or suppliers. We may be subject to these types of claims either directly or indirectly through indemnities assuming liability for these claims that we may provide to certain partners. There can be no assurance that our attempts to negotiate intellectual property indemnities in favor of us with our suppliers for of third-party intellectual property rights will be or that a supplier’s indemnity will cover all and by us and our partners and other suppliers due to products, or that we can secure a license, modification or replacement of a supplier’s products with non- products that may otherwise mitigate such and .
Some of our competitors have, or are affiliated with companies that have, substantially greater resources than us, and these competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property infringement litigation to a greater degree and for longer periods of time than us. Regardless of whether third-party claims of infringement against us have any merit, these claims could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including by subjecting us to costly litigation or royalty or licensing agreements, causing product or software delivery delays or stoppages, requiring us to cease distributing certain products or delivering certain services, or us to other business .
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In addition to being liable for potentially substantial damages relating to a patent or other intellectual property following an infringement action against us, we may be prohibited from developing or commercializing certain technologies or products unless we obtain a license from the holder of the patent or other applicable intellectual property rights, or purchase these rights. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain any such license or purchase the patent on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we do not obtain such a license, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected, and we could be required to cease related business operations in some markets and restructure our business to focus on continuing operations in other markets.
Our technology contains third-party open source software components.
Our technology contains software modules licensed to us under “open source” licenses from third-party sources. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial or proprietary software, as open source licensors generally do not provide support, warranties, indemnification or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, the public availability of such software may make it easier for others to compromise our technology.
Certain open source licenses contain requirements that we make the source code of our software, in which the open source software modules are used or incorporated into, publicly available for third parties to create modifications or derivative works, or grant other licenses to our intellectual property for free. These types of open source licenses are commonly known as “copyleft” licenses. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software subject to copyleft licenses, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of our competitive advantages. Alternatively, to avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software or remove such copyleft software.
Although we monitor our use of open source software to help avoid subjecting our technology to licensing conditions we do not intend, the law surrounding the use of open source software and open source licenses is in a state of evolution and the legal ramifications of such use remain uncertain in the U.S. and other countries. There is a risk that these open source licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated and undesirable conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our technology. From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership of open source software against companies that incorporate open source software into their solutions. As a result, we could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software.
Moreover, while we have processes for controlling our use of open source software in our technology, there is no assurance that such processes will be effective. If we are found to have breached or failed to fully comply with all the terms and conditions of an open source software license, we could face infringement or other liability, or be required to seek costly licenses from third parties to continue providing our offerings on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our technology, to discontinue or delay the provision of our offerings if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We may face disruption and other difficulties in integrating and managing acquired operations or other initiatives we have recently acquired, may develop, or may acquire in the future.
We could face significant challenges in managing and integrating our expanded or combined operations and any other properties or operations we may develop or acquire, particularly in new competitive markets or business lines. The integration and management of operations that we develop or acquire may temporarily divert attention from our day-to-day business. In addition, development and integration of new information technology systems that may be required is costly and time-consuming. The process of integrating operations that we may acquire also could interrupt the activities of those businesses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, the development of new operations may involve regulatory, legal, and competitive risks, and, as it relates to property acquisitions, construction, and local opposition risks, as well as the risks attendant to potential third party relationships related to these development opportunities. In particular, local opposition can delay or increase the anticipated cost of a project, and, in projects where we partner with a third party, if we cannot reach agreement with such parties, or if our relationships otherwise , we could face significant increased costs and . Finally, given the competitive nature of these types of limited license , is possible.
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We cannot assure that we will be able to manage the combined operations that we develop or acquire effectively or realize any of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions or development projects. We also cannot assure that if acquisitions are completed, that the acquired businesses will generate returns consistent with our expectations. Our ability to achieve our objectives in connection with any acquisition we may consummate may be highly dependent on, among other things, our ability to retain the senior level management teams of such acquisition candidates. If, for any reason, we are unable to retain these management teams following such acquisitions or if we fail to attract new capable executives, our operations after consummation of such acquisitions could be materially adversely affected.
The occurrence of some or all of the above-described events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We operate facilities that are located in areas that experience extreme weather conditions, which may increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change.
We have been and may continue to be adversely impacted by increases in the frequency, duration, and severity of extreme weather events and changes in precipitation and temperature. Extreme weather conditions may interrupt our operations and reduce the number of customers who visit our facilities in the affected areas. Our properties, including those in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, are at risk of experiencing extreme weather conditions, including snowstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes or flooding. In the past, adverse weather conditions, potentially exacerbated by climate change, have interrupted our operations, damaged property, and reduced the number of customers who visit our facilities in an affected area. For example, we have experienced interrupted operations and property damage due to hurricanes in the areas around the Gulf of Mexico and due to certain snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast. If any of our properties are damaged or there is a at any of our properties due to natural or other extreme weather events, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially affected.
Although a majority of our repair, clean-up, and lost business expenses have been covered by insurance in the past, there is no assurance that, given the increasing burdens on insurance companies from extreme weather events, we will be able to continue to obtain adequate insurance against these types of losses, or that our insurers in the future will be in a position to satisfy our claims.
Additionally, our retail casino gaming, sports betting, and iCasino operations rely heavily on technology services and an uninterrupted supply of electrical power. Any unscheduled disruption in our technology services or interruption in the supply of electrical power as a result of extreme weather, or otherwise, could result in an immediate, and possibly substantial, loss of revenues.
Our growth and success depend, in part, on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
We rely on relationships with sports leagues and teams, professional athletes and athlete organizations, advertisers, affiliates, and other third parties, in order to attract users to our properties and online sportsbook and iCasino offerings. These relationships, along with providers of online services, search engines, social media, directories and other websites and e-commerce businesses, direct consumers to our offerings. In addition, many of the parties with whom we have advertising arrangements provide advertising services to our competitors. While we believe there are other third parties that could drive users to our offerings, adding or transitioning to them may disrupt our business and increase our costs. If any of our existing or future relationships fail to provide services to us in accordance with the terms of our arrangement, or at all, and we are not able to find suitable alternatives, this could increase the cost to attract consumers and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, the termination of strategic relationships with third parties, or negative claims or publicity involving us or such third parties, could harm our reputation and brand image, which could affect our ability to attract and retain users to our properties and online sportsbook and iCasino offerings.
Additionally, under the sports betting and iCasino laws of certain jurisdictions, sports betting and iCasino licenses are limited to a finite number of eligible entities, such as casinos, tribes or sports facilities or teams, who own or control a “skin” or “skins” under that jurisdiction’s law. A “skin” is a legally authorized license from a gaming regulatory authority to offer sports betting or iCasino services provided through such casinos, tribes or sports facilities or teams. The “skin” provides a market access opportunity for mobile operators to operate in the jurisdiction pending licensure and other required approvals by the jurisdiction’s gaming regulatory authority. In some of the jurisdictions in which we offer sports betting and iCasino, we currently rely on third parties for a “skin.” If we cannot establish, renew, or manage these relationships, our market access rights could terminate, and we would not be allowed to operate in those jurisdictions until we enter into new ones, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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The growth of our Interactive segment will depend on our ability to attract and retain users, which may require investments in our online offerings, technology, and strategic marketing initiatives.
Our ability to achieve revenue growth in the future in our Interactive segment (inclusive of theScore Bet and Hollywood iCasino apps) will depend, in large part, upon our ability to attract new users to our offerings, retain existing users and reactivate inactive users in a cost-effective manner. Achieving growth may require us to engage in sophisticated and costly sales and marketing and promotional efforts. There can be no assurance that we will realize the anticipated benefits of our investments in technology, products, service offerings and marketing initiatives. If new or existing competitors offer more attractive offerings or engage in marketing initiatives that are better received by customers, we may lose users or users may decrease their spending on our offerings.
We have used and expect to continue to use a variety of free and paid marketing channels, in combination with compelling offers and exciting games to achieve our objectives. For paid marketing, we may leverage a broad array of advertising channels, including television, radio, sports teams, social media influencers (brand ambassadors), social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, X and Snapchat, affiliates and paid and organic search, and other digital channels, such as mobile display. If the search engines on which we rely modify their algorithms, change their terms around online betting, if links to our apps or websites are not displayed prominently in online search results, if fewer users click through to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or our websites, if our other digital marketing campaigns are not effective, or if the costs of attracting users using any of our current methods significantly increase, then our ability to efficiently attract new users could be reduced, our revenue could decline and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.
In addition, our ability to both retain and increase the number of users of our offerings will depend on continued user adoption of theScore Bet and Hollywood iCasino apps, and online gaming in general. Growth in the online gaming industries and the level of demand for and market acceptance of our product offerings will be subject to a high degree of uncertainty. We cannot assure that consumer adoption of our product offerings will continue or exceed current growth rates, or that the industry will achieve more widespread acceptance.
Additionally, as technological or regulatory standards change and we modify our platforms to comply with those standards, we may need users to take certain actions to continue playing, such as performing age verification checks or accepting new terms and conditions. Users may stop using our product offerings at any time, including if the quality of the user experience on our platforms, including our support capabilities in the event of a problem, does not meet their expectations or keep pace with the quality of the customer experience generally offered by competitive offerings.
We follow the sports betting industry practice of restricting and managing betting limits at the individual customer level, with limits determined by customer profiles and acceptable enterprise risk; however, there is no guarantee that gaming regulatory authorities will continue to allow operators to follow such practices.
Similar to credit card companies managing risk by tailoring credit limits on a per-customer basis, it is customary for sports betting operators to institute unique betting limits for each customer based on various factors, including but not limited to, betting history, source of funds and wealth reviews, and operator risk tolerance for individual sports or sporting events. This practice is beneficial because it allows sports betting operators to manage risk without the need to place restrictive global betting limits on all customers. There is no guarantee that gaming regulatory authorities will continue to allow us to institute betting limits at the individual customer level, at our sole discretion, which may in turn adversely impact our ability to manage sports betting risk.
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We extend credit to a portion of our customers who wager at our retail properties, and we may not be able to collect gaming receivables from our credit customers.
We conduct our gaming activities on a credit and cash basis at many of our properties, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Any such credit we extend is unsecured. Table games players typically are extended more credit than slot players, and high-stakes players typically are extended more credit than customers who tend to wager lower amounts. High-end gaming is more volatile than other forms of gaming, and variances in win-loss results attributable to high-end gaming may have a significant positive or negative impact on cash flow and earnings in a particular period. We extend credit to those customers whose level of play and financial resources warrant, in the opinion of management, an extension of credit. These large receivables could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations if deemed uncollectible. Gaming debts evidenced by a credit instrument, including what is commonly referred to as a “marker,” and judgments on gaming debts are enforceable under the current laws of the jurisdictions in which we allow play on a credit basis, and judgments on gaming debts in such jurisdictions are enforceable in all U.S. states under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution; however, other jurisdictions may determine that enforcement of gaming debts is public policy. Although courts of certain foreign nations will enforce gaming debts directly and the assets in the U.S. of foreign debtors may be reached to a judgment, judgments on gaming debts from U.S. courts are not binding on the courts of many foreign nations.
We face a number of challenges prior to opening new or upgraded gaming properties, launching iCasino and sports betting in new jurisdictions, or launching new iCasino or sports betting offerings.
No assurance can be given that, when we endeavor to open new or upgraded retail gaming properties, expand sports betting or iCasino in new jurisdictions, or launch new sports betting or iCasino offerings, the expected timetables for opening or expanding such properties or offerings will be met in light of the uncertainties inherent in the development of the regulatory framework, construction and/or development, the licensing process, legislative action and litigation or that we will otherwise realize the anticipated benefits or return on investment. In addition, as we seek to launch sports betting or iCasino offerings in additional jurisdictions, we will need to hire additional qualified employees, such as software engineers, IT professionals, product managers and compliance personnel. Given the significant competition in this area, we may be unable to hire qualified candidates. Delays in opening new or upgraded properties or offerings, or expanding offerings in new jurisdictions, could lead to increased costs and delays or failures in realizing the anticipated benefits of our investments in such properties or offerings, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Legal and Regulatory Risk Factors
We face extensive regulation from gaming regulatory authorities.
As owners and managers of retail casino gaming, iCasino, sports betting, video lottery, VGTs, and pari-mutuel wagering operations, we are subject to extensive state, provincial and local regulation. These gaming regulatory authorities have broad discretion, and may, for any reason set forth in the applicable legislation, rules and regulations, limit, condition, suspend, fail to renew or revoke a license or registration to conduct gaming operations or prevent us from owning the securities of any of our gaming subsidiaries or prevent another person from owning an equity interest in us. Gaming regulatory authorities have input into our operations, for instance, our hours of operation, the location or relocation of any of our properties, numbers and types of slot machines and table games, and the types of sports events or casino games we may offer as part of our sports betting and iCasino operations. Gaming regulatory authorities may not have extensive experience in the digital media industry, which may present unique challenges in regulating our business. Regulators may also levy substantial fines or penalties against us or our subsidiaries for violations of gaming laws or regulations, or the people involved in such gaming laws or regulations, and/or our assets or the assets of our subsidiaries. Any of these events could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Regulations governing the conduct of gaming activities and the obligations of gaming companies in any jurisdiction in which we have or in the future may have gaming operations are subject to change and could impose additional operating, financial, competitive or other burdens on the way we conduct our business. In particular, certain areas of law governing new gaming activities, such as the federal, state, and provincial laws applicable to retail casino gaming, online casinos, and sports betting, are new or developing in light of emerging technologies. No assurance can be provided that government agencies will interpret or enforce new or developing areas of law consistently, predictably, or favorably. Moreover, legislation or regulation to prohibit, limit, or add burdens to increase taxes on our business may be introduced in the future in jurisdictions where gaming has been legalized.
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Our business may also be subject to new legislation related to responsible gaming or consumer protection, which could add restrictions on our marketing or operations or otherwise negatively impact our results of operation. In addition, from time to time, legislators and special interest groups have proposed legislation that would expand, restrict, or prevent gaming operations or which may otherwise adversely impact our operations in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Any expansion of gaming or restriction on or prohibition of our gaming operations or enactment of other adverse regulatory changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Certain public and private issuances of securities and other transactions that we are party to also require the approval of some gaming regulatory authorities. We have demonstrated suitability to obtain and have obtained all governmental licenses, registrations, permits, and approvals necessary for our existing gaming and pari-mutuel properties and sports betting and iCasino operations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to retain and renew those existing licenses or demonstrate suitability to obtain any new licenses, registrations, permits, or approvals. Gaming regulatory authorities generally have broad powers with respect to licensing, and from time to time, under certain circumstances, may revoke, suspend, condition or limit our licenses. For example, on November 20, 2025, the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission added a condition to the Colorado gaming license held by one of our subsidiaries that provides that the Company shall not permit an investor to acquire, assume or exercise any control and/or influence over the Company unless and until the Commission has determined that such investor is found suitable under applicable Colorado gaming laws. In addition, the loss of a license, registration, permit or approval in one jurisdiction could trigger the loss of a license, registration, permit or approval or affect our eligibility for a license, registration, permit or approval in another jurisdiction. As we expand our gaming operations in our existing jurisdictions or to new jurisdictions, we may have to meet additional suitability requirements and obtain additional licenses, registrations, permits and approvals from gaming regulatory authorities in these jurisdictions. The approval process can be time-consuming and , and we cannot be sure that we will be . Furthermore, this risk is particularly pertinent to our sports betting and iCasino initiatives because regulations in this area are not as fully developed or established.
Gaming regulatory authorities generally can require that any record holder or beneficial owner of our securities file an application for a license or similar finding of suitability. If a gaming regulatory authority requires a record holder or beneficial owner of our securities to file a suitability application, the owner must generally apply for a finding of suitability within 30 days or at an earlier time prescribed by the gaming regulatory authority. The gaming regulatory authority also has the power to investigate such an owner’s suitability and the owner must pay all costs of the investigation. If the owner is found unsuitable or fails to apply when required to do so, then the owner may be required by law to dispose of our securities.
Our directors, officers, key employees, joint venture partners, and vendors must also meet approval standards of certain gaming regulatory authorities. If gaming regulatory authorities were to find a person occupying any such position unsuitable, we may be required to sever our relationship with that person, joint venture partner or vendor. Gaming regulatory authorities may also conduct investigations into the conduct or associations of our directors, officers, key employees, joint venture partners or vendors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
We are subject to certain federal, state, provincial and other regulations.
We are subject to certain federal, state, provincial, and local laws, regulations and ordinances that apply to businesses generally. The Bank Secrecy Act, enforced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) of the U.S. Treasury Department, requires us to report currency transactions in excess of $10,000 occurring within a gaming day, including identification of the guest by name and social security number, to the IRS. This regulation also requires us to report certain suspicious activity, including any transaction that exceeds $5,000 that we know, suspect or have reason to believe involves funds from illegal activity or is designed to evade federal regulations or reporting requirements and to verify sources of funds, in response to which we have implemented Know Your Customer processes. Periodic audits by the IRS and our internal audit department assess compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, and substantial penalties can be imposed against us if we fail to comply with this regulation. In recent years the U.S. Treasury Department has increased its focus on Bank Act compliance throughout the gaming industry, and public comments by FinCEN suggest that casinos should obtain information on each customer’s sources of income. This could impact our ability to attract and retain casino guests. Further, since we deal with significant amounts of cash in our operations, we are subject to various reporting and anti-money regulations. Any of anti-money laws or regulations, or any of money or regulatory into possible money activities, by any of our properties, online gaming operations, employees, partners, affiliates, or customers could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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The riverboats on which we operate must also comply with certain federal and state laws and regulations with respect to boat design, on-board facilities, equipment, personnel, and safety. In addition, we are required to have third parties periodically inspect and certify all of our casino barges for stability and single compartment flooding integrity. The casino barges on which we operate also must meet local fire safety standards. We would incur additional costs if any of the gaming facilities on which we operate were not in compliance with one or more of these regulations.
We are also subject to a variety of other federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including those relating to zoning, construction, land use, employment, marketing, and advertising and the production, sale, and service of alcoholic beverages. If we are not in compliance with these laws and regulations or we are subject to a substantial penalty, or if there are significant changes to applicable laws and regulations, including as a result of executive orders, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings, and no assurance can be provided as to the outcome of these matters.
From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings, including as defendants in lawsuits relating to matters incidental to our business. The nature of our business subjects us to the risk of lawsuits filed by customers, past and present employees, competitors, business partners, and others in the ordinary course of business (particularly in the case of class actions). As with all litigation, no assurance can be provided as to the outcome of these matters and, in general, litigation can be expensive and time consuming. We may not be successful in these lawsuits, and, especially with increasing class action claims in our industry, litigation could result in costs, settlements, or damages that could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
State and local smoking restrictions have and may continue to negatively affect our business.
Legislation in various forms to ban or substantially curtail indoor tobacco smoking in public places has been enacted or introduced in many states and local jurisdictions, including several of the jurisdictions in which we operate. We believe the smoking restrictions have significantly impacted business volumes. If additional smoking restrictions are enacted within jurisdictions where we operate or seek to do business, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Changes to consumer privacy laws could adversely affect our ability to market our products effectively and may require us to change our business practices or expend significant amounts on compliance with such laws.
We rely on a variety of direct marketing techniques, including email marketing, online advertising, and postal mailings in our business. Any further restrictions in laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Do-Not-Call-Implementation Act, applicable Federal Communications Commission telemarketing rules (including the declaratory ruling affirming the blocking of unwanted robocalls), the FTC Privacy Rule, Safeguards Rule, Consumer Report Information Disposal Rule, Telemarketing Sales Rule, Canada’s Anti-Spam Law and various U.S. state and Canadian provincial laws, or new federal, state or provincial laws on marketing and solicitation or international privacy, e-privacy, and anti-spam laws that govern these activities could adversely affect the continuing effectiveness of email, online advertising, and postal mailing techniques and could force further changes in our marketing strategy. If this occurs, we may not be able to develop adequate alternative marketing strategies, which could impact the amount and timing of our sales of certain products.
Further, certain of our products and services depend on the ability to use non-public personal, financial transaction, and or other information relating to patrons, which we may collect and or obtain from travel service providers or other companies with whom we have substantial relationships. To the extent that we collect, control, or process such information, federal, state, provincial and foreign privacy laws and regulations, including without limitation the California Consumer Privacy Act (including the amended California Privacy Rights Act), the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Ontario, Canada’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, require us to make disclosures regarding our privacy and information sharing practices, safeguard and protect the privacy of such information, and, in some cases, provide patrons the opportunity to “opt out” of the use of their information for certain purposes, any of which could limit our ability to leverage existing and future databases of information which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We must comply with federal, state, provincial, and foreign requirements regarding notice and consent to obtain, use, share, transmit and store such information, including providing the opportunity and mechanisms to “opt out” from certain uses in some jurisdictions. Furthermore, we may face conflicting obligations arising from the potential concurrent application of laws of multiple jurisdictions. In the event that we are not able to reconcile such obligations, we may be required to change business practices or face liability or sanction.To the extent that we fail to comply with applicable consumer protection and data privacy laws, we may become subject to actions by regulatory authorities and/or individuals (including private right of action in some jurisdictions), which may result in the payment of fines or the imposition of other monetary or non-monetary penalties.
We may experience material increases to our taxes or the adoption of new taxes or the authorization of new or increased forms of gaming.
We believe that the prospect of generating incremental revenue is one of the primary reasons that jurisdictions permit or expand legalized gaming. As a result, gaming companies are typically subject to revenue-based taxes and fees in addition to normal federal, state, provincial and local income taxes, and such taxes and fees are subject to increase at any time. We pay substantial taxes and fees with respect to our operations, and changes to taxes and fees in our existing jurisdictions could have a material impact on our profitability. From time-to-time, federal, state, provincial, and local legislators and officials have proposed changes in tax laws, or in the administration of such laws, affecting the gaming industry. Worsening economic conditions could intensify the efforts of state, provincial, and local governments to raise revenues through increases in gaming taxes, property taxes and/or by authorizing additional gaming properties each subject to payment of a new license fee. In addition, there is uncertainty regarding the regulatory and legal frameworks applicable to prediction markets, and developments in this area could result in changes to tax laws affecting the gaming industry. It is not possible to determine with certainty the likelihood of changes in tax laws or in the administration of such laws. Such changes, if adopted, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are subject to environmental laws and potential exposure to environmental liabilities.
We are subject to various federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations that govern our operations, including emissions and discharges into the environment, and the handling and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous substances and wastes. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in costs for corrective action, penalties or the imposition of other liabilities or restrictions. From time to time, we have incurred and are incurring costs and obligations for correcting environmental noncompliance matters. The extent of such potential conditions cannot be determined definitively. To date, none of these matters have had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations; however, there can be no assurance that such matters will not have such an effect in the future.
We also are subject to laws and regulations that impose liability and clean-up responsibility for releases of other hazardous substances into the environment. Under certain of these laws and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of the property may be liable for the costs of remediating contaminated soil or groundwater on or from its property, without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or caused, the contamination, as well as incur liability to third parties impacted by such contamination. The presence of contamination, or failure to remediate it properly, may adversely affect our ability to use, sell or rent property. Due to the contractual arrangements under the Triple Net Leases, we will generally be responsible for both past and future environmental liabilities associated with our gaming operations, despite the transfer of the ownership of the underlying real property. Furthermore, we are aware that there is or may have been soil or groundwater or other contamination at certain of our properties resulting from current or former operations. These environmental conditions may require remediation in isolated areas. The extent of such potential conditions cannot be definitively determined, and may result in additional expense in the event that additional or currently unknown conditions are detected.
We are subject to risks and costs related to climate change regulations.
We may become subject to legislation and regulation regarding climate change, and compliance with any new rules could be difficult, burdensome, and costly. Certain states have announced or adopted programs intended to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and, in the past, federal legislation has been proposed in Congress. Also, certain policymakers have adopted or are considering adopting rules or laws to require companies to provide significantly expanded climate-related disclosures. If such legislation is enacted, we could incur increased energy, environmental and other costs, and capital expenditures to comply with the limitations, as well as additional costs related to the implementation and reporting of significant additional internal controls processes and procedures regarding matters that have not been subject to such controls in the past. In addition, if such legislation is enacted but later significantly changed or repealed, we could incur costs related to compliance with the prior legislation without realizing the anticipated benefits. Unless and until legislation is enacted and its terms are known, we cannot reasonably or reliably estimate its impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, regulation of GHG emissions may limit our customers’ ability to travel to our properties (e.g. as a result of increased fuel costs or restrictions on transport-related emissions).
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Risks Related to Our Information Systems and Technology
If our third-party mobile application distribution platforms or service providers do not perform adequately or terminate their relationships with us, our business may be disrupted or our costs may increase.
Our success depends in part on our relationships with other third-party service providers. We rely upon third-party distribution platforms, including the Apple App Store and Google Play store, for distribution of our entertainment, media, and mobile sports betting and iCasino applications. As such, the promotion, distribution, and operation of our mobile applications are subject to the respective distribution platforms’ standard terms and policies, which are very broad and subject to frequent changes and interpretation. If Apple or Google choose to de-list any of our mobile applications, it could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Further, the success of our Interactive segment depends in part on our relationships with other third-party service providers for hosting, content delivery, load balancing and protection against distributed denial-of-service attacks. If those providers do not perform adequately or terminate their relationship with us, our users may experience issues or interruptions with their experiences. We also rely on other software and services supplied by third parties, such as communications and internal software, and our business may be adversely affected to the extent such software and services do not meet our expectations, contain errors or vulnerabilities, are compromised or experience outages. Further, any negative publicity related to any of our third-party partners could adversely affect our reputation and brand.
We incorporate technology from third parties throughout our business. We cannot be certain that our licensors are not infringing the intellectual property rights of others or that the suppliers and licensors have sufficient rights to the technology in all jurisdictions in which we may operate. Some of our license agreements may be terminated by our licensors for convenience. If we are unable to obtain or maintain rights to any of this technology because of intellectual property infringement claims brought by third parties against our suppliers and licensors or against us, or if we are unable to continue to obtain the technology or enter into new agreements on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to develop our offerings could be severely limited and our business could be harmed.
Additionally, if we are unable to obtain necessary technology from third parties, we may be forced to acquire or develop alternate technology, which may require significant time and effort and may be of lower quality or performance standards. This would limit and delay our ability to provide new or competitive offerings and increase our costs. If alternate technology cannot be obtained or developed, we may not be able to offer certain functionality as part of our offerings, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If internet and other technology-based service providers experience service interruptions, our ability to conduct our business may be impaired.
A substantial portion of our technological and network infrastructure is provided by third parties, including internet service providers and other technology-based service providers. We require technology-based service providers to implement cyber-attack-resilient systems and processes. However, if internet service providers experience service interruptions, because of cyber-attacks, or due to an event causing an unusually high volume of internet use, communications over the internet may be interrupted and impair our ability to conduct our business. Internet service providers and other technology-based service providers may in the future roll out upgraded or new mobile or other telecommunications services, such as 5G or 6G services, which may not be successful and thus may impact the ability of our users to access our offerings in a timely fashion or at all. In addition, our ability to process transactions, both at our retail properties and online, depends on point-of-sale, payment processing, payment network and database systems. To prepare for system problems, we continuously seek to strengthen and enhance our current facilities and the capabilities of our system infrastructure and support. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that these systems will continue to be to meet the demand placed on us by our customers and the continued growth of the internet, the overall sports betting, and iCasino industry. Any these providers face, including the potential of certain network traffic receiving priority over other traffic (i.e., of net neutrality), may affect our business, and we exercise little control over these providers, which increases our to with the services they provide. Any system as a result of reliance on third parties, such as hosting, network, software or hardware , or as a result of cyber-attacks, could cause a of our users’ property or personal information, or a or in our online services and products and e-commerce services, including our ability to handle existing or increased traffic. Any such could result in a of anticipated revenue, to our offerings, cause us to incur significant legal, remediation and notification costs, the customer experience, and cause users to confidence in our offerings, any of which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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We rely on third party cloud infrastructure services to deliver our offerings to users, and we have experienced, and expect in the future to experience, service interruptions, delays, and outages.
We currently host our OSB and iCasino offerings and support our operations using third-party providers of cloud infrastructure services. We do not, and will not, have control over the operations of the facilities or infrastructure of the third-party service providers that we use. Such third-party facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, cybersecurity attacks, terrorist attacks, power outages and similar events or acts of misconduct. Our technology’s continuing and uninterrupted performance will be critical to our success and is dependent on the use of third-party cloud infrastructure services. We have experienced, and we expect that in the future we will experience, interruptions, delays, and outages in service and availability from these third-party service providers from time to time due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, website hosting and capacity constraints. In addition, any changes in these third parties’ service levels may affect our ability to meet the requirements of our users. Since our technology’s continuing and uninterrupted performance is to our , sustained or repeated system would reduce the of our offerings. It may become increasingly to maintain and our performance, especially during peak usage times, as we expand and the usage of our offerings increases.
Any of the above circumstances or events may harm our reputation and brand, reduce the availability or usage of our technology, lead to a significant loss of revenue, increase our costs and impair our ability to attract new users, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our information technology and other systems are subject to cybersecurity risk, including misappropriation of employee information, customer information, or other breaches of information security.
We increasingly rely on information technology and other systems, including our own systems and those of service providers and third parties, to manage our business and employee data and maintain and transmit customers’ personal and financial information, payment settlements, payment funds transmissions, mailing lists, and reservations information. Our collection of such data is subject to extensive regulation by private groups, such as the payment card industry, as well as governmental authorities, including gaming regulatory authorities. Privacy regulations continue to evolve, and we have taken, and will continue to take, steps to comply by implementing processes designed to safeguard the confidential and personal information of our business, employees, and customers. In addition, our security measures are reviewed and evaluated regularly. However, our information and processes and those of our service providers and other third parties, including our contractors and contractors of our service providers and vendors, are subject to the ever-changing threat of compromised security, in the form of a risk of potential breach, system failure, computer virus, or unauthorized or fraudulent use by customers, company employees, company contractors and other third parties including employees and contractors of third-party vendors, and criminal use of credentials sold on the dark web. In recognition of these heightened risks, our Board and Audit Committee receive regular presentations and reports on material cybersecurity risks which might impact us. See Item 1C. Cybersecurity of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional detail regarding the programs, policies, and procedures we have in place to identify, prevent and detect any , viruses, or other forms of access. The steps we take to and mitigate the risks of attacks may not be , and any resulting compromise or of data or systems could impact operations or regulatory compliance and could result in remedial expenses, , , disclosures, and of reputation, potentially impacting our financial results. Further, as cyber-attacks continue to evolve, we may incur significant costs in our attempts to modify or our protective measures or or remediate any actual or perceived . Increased instances of cyber-attacks may also have a reputational impact on us and our properties that may result in a of customer confidence and, as a result, may have a material effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Moreover, the rapid evolution and increased use of artificial intelligence technologies amplify these cybersecurity risks.
We have experienced attempts by unauthorized third parties to damage, exploit, disrupt or gain access to our networks, our products and services, consumer information, and our supporting infrastructure, including accessing user accounts by illicitly purchasing identification and password credentials on the dark web. While to date none of these incidents has had a material impact on us, we expect to continue to be targeted in the future. Any failure to prevent or mitigate security breaches or cyber risk could result in interruptions to the services we provide, degrade the user experience, and cause our users to lose confidence in our products and services. The unauthorized access, acquisition or disclosure of consumer information could compel us to comply with disparate notification laws and otherwise subject us to proceedings by governmental entities, including gaming regulatory authorities, or others, and substantial legal and financial liability. This could our business and reputation, our relationships with partners and our competitive position.
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We have begun using artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and similar technologies in our business, and challenges with properly managing such technologies could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our results of operations.
We have begun using artificial intelligence (including generative artificial intelligence), machine learning, data science and similar technologies (collectively, “artificial intelligence”) in our technology and infrastructure, which may become more prominent in and important to our operations over time. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate artificial intelligence in a similar or different manner and may do so more rapidly or more successfully than us, which could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively and our results of operations. Additionally, if the content, analyses, materials, software or recommendations that artificial intelligence produces or assists in producing are, or are alleged to be, infringing or otherwise violating of others’ rights (including intellectual property rights), or illegal, we may be subject to legal liability or our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations may otherwise be adversely affected.
The use of artificial intelligence can lead to unintended consequences, including the generation of outputs, such as “hallucinations,” that appear correct but are factually inaccurate, misleading or are otherwise flawed, which could harm our reputation and business. The content, analysis, materials, software, recommendations and other outputs produced by artificial intelligence may be subject to limited or no intellectual property or other proprietary protection. We may lose intellectual property and other proprietary rights in any data, content, confidential information, trade secrets or other materials that we provide as inputs to artificial intelligence technology. If we are unable to assert proprietary rights in such outputs or inputs against use by third parties, we may experience competitive harm, and our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
In addition, the use of artificial intelligence may result in violations of applicable data security or data privacy laws, or in cybersecurity incidents that implicate the personal data of end customers, employees or other third parties, as well as potential gaming regulatory violations. Any such violation or cybersecurity incidents related to our use of artificial intelligence could result in legal liability or otherwise adversely affect our reputation and results of operations. If our use of artificial intelligence becomes controversial, we may experience brand or reputational harm or competitive harm. Also, artificial intelligence is subject to a dynamic and rapidly evolving legal and regulatory environment, the extent and scope of which may in many instances be uncertain and may vary (or conflict) across jurisdictions. Compliance with existing and potential government regulation of artificial intelligence may require significant resources, including to develop, test and maintain platforms, offerings, services, and features to help us implement and use artificial intelligence in accordance with applicable law, and to help minimize other potential effects on our results of operations.
