Exclusive: Penn National eyes multiple regional media deals
Operator rules out national scale advertising and sponsorship partnerships in favour of a more localized and integrated approach
Penn National is seeking multiple regional media partnerships to target specific states, head of Penn Interactive Jon Kaplowitz has said.
The firm is well into its search for media partnerships and had ruled out national-scale deals, Kaplowitz told EGR.
“We’re looking for more of a non-traditional media partnership – sports betting is regional in nature so we’re not looking for a national sponsorship or advertising deal, we’re looking for partners that can regionalize our message,” he said.
He said the operator was looking for “fully integrated” partnerships to “seamlessly drive home the messages of players” through the use of influencers.
“It’s difficult because traditional media companies see sports betting as a traditional advertising sponsorship category and they are going to succeed with that but we’re looking for something a bit different,” Kaplowitz said.
The company has previously been linked with NBC thanks in part to Kaplowitz’s links with Comcast.
Kaplowitz said NBC was doing some interesting things on its regional sports network.
Penn National CEO Tim Wilmott recently told investors and analysts the operator was in talks with a number of potential sports media partners and was “encouraged by where some of the conversations were going”.
He acknowledged the firm did not yet have a sportsbook brand to lead with but is in the process of developing its own betting product with supplier Kambi.
Penn National has access to 19 potential states for sports betting through its retail casino licenses.