Hollywood Casino App Draws in Younger Crowd, Shifting Customer Demographics

PENN Entertainment launched the Hollywood Casino app in December with the hopes of increasing its online casino market share in Pennsylvania. That effort has been bearing fruit, especially with younger customers.

The new casino product is stand-alone uses PENN’s in-house tech stack, whereas the earlier incarnation of the Hollywood brand was integrated with the ESPN Bet Sportsbook (formerly Barstool) and used a third-party platform. The combination of proprietary technology and a single-vertical experience has already started to pay off in the Keystone State.

Now running on its own platform, PENN Entertainment has the flexibility to construct the app as it pleases. Having four retail Hollywood locations in Pennsylvania certainly helps it speak directly to tens of thousands of people in the state.

Aside from growing its market share PENN Entertainment says it is also starting to its player demographics beginning to skew toward younger players.

Hollywood app off to a strong start since launch

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) does not report revenue by operator. Instead, it does so by licensee, which makes it more difficult to how individual brands are performing when they are grouped together on the same license.

That’s particularly a problem for the Hollywood Casino license. In addition to PENN’s eponymous online casino, that license provides market access to three bigger brands: DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics. Together, the four brands account for about 37% of the market. However, in states that do provide a breakdown for individual operators, Hollywood only holds about 2%.

So, Hollywood’s Pennsylvania true numbers are masked by the performance of BetMGM and DraftKings. However, the company has provided some specifics since going live with the new standalone app in December. According to a Q4 2024 earnings presentation, the app has already garnered the following statistics:

+16% average weekly users
+38% average weekly gross gaming revenue
+35% average weekly net gaming revenue

Clearly, the statistics show that the app is gaining momentum in Pennsylvania. Jason Birney, VP of Operations at PENN Interactive, told PlayPennsylvania the focus of the new app in a phone interview last week. He said:

“We focused on developing an experience that focused on what our traditional brick-and-mortar guests enjoy. That means exciting slot content, progressive jackpots and engaging promotions.

“We keep saying, ‘take your Hollywood home.’ We’re offering an experience you’re familiar with at your favorite Pennsylvania casino and the comfort of your own home.”

PENN Entertainment CEO, Jay Snowden, said on a previous earnings call that the third-party app yielded in the “high single digits” of market share. It would be expected that the operator could acquire at least that, maybe more.

The app launched with more than 750 games, with 700 of them being slots.

Hollywood customers in PA are trending younger

PENN Entertainment’s online customers mostly mirror its retail audience, which skews a little older than the customer base of purely online operators. However, that is starting to shift as younger players discover the Hollywood brand.

Birney said that Hollywood’s database in Pennsylvania alone consists of “tens of thousands” of people. Since the company’s big digital push, the average age of the Hollywood online customer was 44 last year. That’s almost a decade younger than the average when the first version of Hollywood launched in 2019, which was 53.

penn entertainment

Image: Photo by Courtesy of PENN Entertainment

PENN Entertainment has a leg-up in the Keystone State thanks to its four brick-and-mortar properties here. The company only has one in Michigan and doesn’t have any in New Jersey. Birney spoke of the importance of that factor:

“You can imagine having four property’s databases and having the knowledge what the consumer demands are for the market gives us an advantage in Pennsylvania as we continue to optimize our offerings.”

Good cross-channel engagement

Birney said that he tracks real-time data on a daily basis and is able to see what is trending well at its retail properties. The company then tries to replicate similar offerings online.

PENN Entertainment has been finding success in getting its customers to move back and forth from retail to online. Birney explained:

“We’ve worked with providers on doing dual launches at properties, with games launching at the brick-and-mortar facilities and online at the same exact time. We’ve done omnichannel promotions, where we have included our online patrons in property-specific car giveaways.

“That drives the online guests to a property and vice versa. We’ve done quite a bit there from the omnichannel connection.”

Birney also pointed out that slots such as Buffalo Gold and Cleopatra have been equally successful in both verticals, which facilitates the cross-channel strategy.

PENN produces games in-house

In having its own tech stack now, PENN Entertainment is also able to produce its own casino games through the company’s PENN Games Studios in Massachusetts. Birney said that is a differentiator that other operators cannot offer.

PENN Entertainment also forged relationships with sports franchises, such as the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates, to offer branded blackjack games for players. That wouldn’t have been possible without the studio.

Creating partnerships with sports teams is important for PENN Entertainment because of the ESPN BET sportsbook app. That app caters to players who are predominantly sports bettors. Being able to cross-sell those players on casino games using familiar brands is key to the overall success of PENN Entertainment.

However, although cross-selling is the ultimate goal, Birney said that right now, the company is strongly focused on the launch of the new Hollywood app, which is meant for the casino-first player. Birney is confident the app will succeed, especially in the Keystone State:

“I would only say with our brick-and-mortar casino footprint in Pennsylvania, that as we continue to grow the product, I believe that we will be a player in the market.”

Source: Play Pennsylvania Written By Corey Sharp on March 31, 2025