The ESPN deal is Penn’s second effort at sports betting, having scrapped a three-year endeavor in August with the irreverent sports website Barstool Sports, which Penn acquired for $551 million. The company's three in-state casinos - M Resort and two small properties in Jackpot near the state’s border with Idaho - have William Hill US sportsbooks. Nevada is not one of the states where Penn operates sports betting. 14 in 16 states, the investment community was more interested in that deal than a casino expansion in Henderson. Given Penn’s 10-year, $1.5 billion deal to launch ESPN Bet on Nov. “These projects will also contribute to our strong free cash flow generation upon opening in late 2025 and early 2026.” “We expect these four growth projects to deliver a 15-plus percent cash-on-cash return,” Snowden said. The M Resort expansion budget is the second largest of the four casinos.

In its initial announcement, Penn didn’t provide a timeline for M Resort and company executives have declined interviews about its plans for the Henderson casino. Penn has not given any schedule for the casino expansions, including for the M Resort. Penn plans to spend $800 million combined on expanding M Resort, Hollywood Columbus and two Illinois casinos. Snowden said the Henderson resort was one of the casino operator’s “highest-performing properties” along with the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, Ohio, which is also targeted for an expansion.

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