Penn National to become NASCAR’s first authorized gaming operator

NASCAR and Penn Interactive, a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, announced Friday a new multi-year partnership that will make Penn National an authorized gaming operator of NASCAR in the United States. The partnership is the gaming company’s first with a professional sports league and will center around a brand new, free-to-play, mobile game named NASCAR Finish Line, which offers users the chance to win a $50,000 jackpot every race.

In addition, NASCAR and Penn National have extended their long-standing race title sponsorship for the “Hollywood Casino 400” at Kansas Speedway through 2026, deepening the connection between the two entertainment companies. The partnership furthers Hollywood Casino’s position as the Official Casino Partner of Kansas Speedway and the race title sponsor of the NASCAR Cup SeriesTM race that this year is scheduled for October 18, 2020.

“We’re thrilled to have Penn National on board as our first authorized gaming operator to strengthen our effort to increase fan engagement with a platform perfect for in-play experience,” said Craig Neeb, Executive Vice President, Innovation, NASCAR. “Coupled with our landmark deal with Genius Sports in 2019, this partnership also positions NASCAR to take advantage of the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting across the country.”

“We are very excited to enter this long-term, strategic partnership with NASCAR,” said Jennifer Weissman, Chief Marketing Officer for Penn National. “We look forward to the opportunity to provide NASCAR fans multiple outlets for their fandom, including online on a new free-to-play mobile game and at our destination casinos and sportsbooks.”

The free-to-play NASCAR Finish Line mobile game will be available ahead of the Daytona 500 across iOS and Android phones and tablets and can be downloaded on the App Store and Google Play store. Players can win the $50,000 jackpot by accurately predicting the race winner and the highest finishers across six different groupings of six drivers. The app will use NASCAR's official data feed to offer in-race betting.

“I’m excited that we have extended our title race sponsorship agreement with Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway and as a company, that we are expanding our relationship with Penn National,” said Kansas Speedway President Patrick Warren. “Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway has been able to entertain thousands of their customers, not only from the Kansas City area, but also from around the country during the “Hollywood Casino 400” the last several years. I look forward to continuing to help them entertain and reward their patrons for the next few years.”

Penn National is the nation’s largest regional gaming operator with 41 facilities in 19 states, including the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway that overlooks Turn 2 of the Speedway, which opened in 2012. The company recently announced an exclusive gaming partnership with Barstool Sports to utilize its brand for all of Penn National’s online and retail sports betting and iCasino products, subject to the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur within the first quarter.

As an authorized gaming operator of NASCAR, Penn National will take an active role in promoting NASCAR across its properties and on its soon-to-launch sports betting app. Genius Sports, NASCAR’s exclusive provider of NASCAR data to licensed sportsbooks, rolled out several new in-race bet types in 2019 and is set to expand upon that with an additional eight in time for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Last year, NASCAR announced a series of partnerships to prepare the industry and its fans for the rapidly growing sports betting landscape in the U.S., including an integrity deal with Sportradar, an exclusive data distribution deal with Genius Sports, and content deals with Action Network and VSiN. Additionally, the sanctioning body granted all teams and tracks the ability to sell marketing sponsorships to sports betting companies and licensed sportsbooks.

The NASCAR-Penn National deal is the latest in a wave of partnerships between gambling companies and professional sports organizations. For instance, the NBA named sportsbook operator William Hill a league-authorized betting operator last October following similar agreements with MGM Resorts, The Stars Group and FanDuel.

The NFL signed Caesars Entertainment to be a league sponsor. The legendary casino operator received exclusive rights to use NFL logos in both the United States and the United Kingdom but only “tackles” casino gambling and does not include sports betting or daily fantasy contests. As for the NHL, it has deals with William Hill (“official sports betting partner”), a partnership with MGM Resorts (“an official gaming partner and resort destination”) and has teamed with FanDuel as its official daily fantasy partner.

Major League Baseball last fall announced a new multiyear deal with FOX Bet that made the mobile sports betting product its “authorized gaming operator” in the U.S. MLB also has MGM as a league sponsor, which included the gaming leader to utilize official league data for its sports gaming operations.