Penn cuts 75 roles in latest push for digital profitability
Table of contents
- Penn Entertainment has eliminated more than 75 roles within its Penn Interactive division, affecting theScore Bet, online casino and social gaming operations.
- The cuts come weeks after the company reported $1.78bn in Q1 2026 total revenue, with the Interactive segment narrowing its adjusted EBITDA loss to $10.8m from $89m a year earlier.
- The redundancies are the latest in a series of workforce reductions across the iGaming industry as US sports betting growth slows and operators face mounting pressure to reach profitability.
Penn Entertainment has cut more than 75 employees from its Penn Interactive division in the latest restructuring move since the company wound down its ESPN Bet branding deal and pivoted its US digital strategy around theScore Bet.
The redundancies span multiple levels of the organisation and affect staff across theScore Bet, Penn’s online casino product and its social gaming operations. Penn Interactive is estimated to have employed more than 500 people before the latest round.
Background to the cuts
The layoffs came a week after Penn published its Q1 2026 financial results, which showed encouraging signs of revenue growth in both online sports betting and iGaming. The company reported total revenues of $1.779bn for the quarter and a net loss of $2.8m.
The Interactive segment’s adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed sharply to $10.8m, compared with a loss of $89m in Q1 2025, following the strategic reset that included discontinuing ESPN Bet in favour of theScore Bet and Hollywood Casino.
A January 2026 reorganisation of the Interactive division, which consolidated technology leadership and targeted cost savings, forms the clearest backdrop for the new cuts.
At that time, Executive Vice President of Operations Todd George and Chief Information Officer Rich Primus stepped down as their positions were eliminated, with Penn simultaneously launching a search for a new digital Chief Operating Officer.
Sources have indicated surprise at the extent of the latest layoffs, raising questions about whether the streamlining will prove sufficient to secure the future viability of Penn Interactive.
For Penn, the strategic refocus also has a clear geographic dimension. Since exiting the ESPN Bet venture, the company has relaunched theScore Bet in the US and sharpened its focus on Canada, where Ontario has historically been a core market.
An Alberta launch is scheduled for 13 July 2026, when the province opens its regulated online gambling market.
Part of a wider trend
Gambling.com Group announced a 25% workforce reduction the same week, affecting approximately 150 people, with the company citing an AI-first restructuring targeting annual savings of around $13m.
Israeli sports datat provider LSports also confirmed job cuts as part of a strategic pivot towards automation.
The pattern extends beyond digital-native businesses. IGT cut approximately 700 roles following its post-merger restructuring, and Lottomatica eliminated 348 positions in Belgrade after its SKS365 acquisition.
The broader pattern also follows layoffs earlier in 2026 at Underdog, PrizePicks and DraftKings.
FanDuel parted ways with its CEO amid disappointing financial performance, with shares in parent company Flutter Entertainment down 56% year to date.
Analysts point to a structural shift in the market. Jordan Bender, equity research analyst at Citizens, said the industry has reached a point where “growth is starting to materially slow,” citing the natural deceleration eight years on from the US Supreme Court ruling that opened the market, as well as the competitive threat posed by prediction markets.
Barry Jonas, senior gaming analyst at Truist Securities, added that gambling stocks have come under pressure, forcing companies to improve earnings outlooks and cut costs proactively.
“There is a real risk here that companies need to get ahead of. That means not fighting AI, but using it.”
Penn’s ability to demonstrate a credible path to digital profitability remains the central question for investors. With Interactive still loss-making despite significantly narrower losses, the pace of recovery will be closely watched ahead of the Alberta launch and the company’s next set of results.
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