PENN Entertainment Inc

Our primary sources of liquidity and capital resources have been and are expected to be cash flow from operations, borrowings from banks, and proceeds from the issuance of debt and equity securities. Our ongoing liquidity will depend on a number of factors, including available cash resources, cash flow from operations, acquisitions or investments, funding of construction for development projects, and our compliance with covenants contained under our debt agreements.

Operating Cash Flow

Trends in our operating cash flows tend to follow trends in operating income, excluding non-cash charges, but can be affected by changes in working capital, the timing of significant interest payments, tax payments or refunds, and distributions from unconsolidated affiliates. Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities decreased by $216.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to a decrease in earnings and a negative impact in changes in working capital related to the timing of advanced deposits.

Investing Cash Flow

Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2024, of $47.3 million, primarily relates to capital expenditures of $41.4 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, cash used in investing activities of $378.2 million was primarily related to consideration paid for the Barstool Acquisition, net of cash acquired, of $314.6 million and capital expenditures of $63.2 million.

Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures are accounted for as either project capital (new facilities or expansions) or maintenance (replacement) which is inclusive of projects such as our retail sportsbooks, our cashless, cardless and contactless technology and hotel renovations. Cash provided by operating activities, as well as cash available under our Amended Revolving Credit Facility, was available to fund our capital expenditures for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, as applicable.

Capital expenditures for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, were $41.4 million and $63.2 million, respectively. For the year ending December 31,2024, our anticipated capital expenditures, inclusive of insurance proceeds, are approximately $225.0 million, which include capital expenditures of $22.8 million, incurred for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and capital expenditures required under our Triple Net Leases, which require us to spend a specified percentage of total revenues. Additionally for the year ending December 31,2024, we anticipate capital project expenditures of $275.6 million in connection with the Aurora Project and Other Development Projects as a result of our Master Development Agreement with GLPI (as described in Note 8, “Leases” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements), which include capital expenditures of $18.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The Master Development Agreement provides that GLPI will fund up to $225.0 million for the Aurora Project and, upon PENN’s request, up to $350.0 million in the aggregate for the Other Development Projects, in accordance with certain terms and conditions set forth in the Master Development Agreement.

Financing Cash Flow

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, net cash used in financing activities totaled $50.1 million, primarily related to principal payments of $22.2 million on our finance leases and finance obligations, $12.2 million in payments on insurance financing, as well as $9.4 million in principal payments on long-term debt.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities totaled $83.0 million, primarily related to repurchases of our common stock of $50.0 million.

As of March 31, 2024, we had $2.8 billion in aggregate principal amount of indebtedness, including $1.5 billion outstanding under our Amended Credit Facilities (as defined in Note 7, “Long-term Debt” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements), $400.0 million outstanding under our 5.625% Notes due 2027 (the “5.625% Notes”), $400.0 million outstanding under our 4.125% Notes due 2029 (the “4.125% Notes”), $330.5 million outstanding under our 2.75% Convertible Notes due 2026, and $183.4 million outstanding in other long-term obligations. No amounts were drawn on our Amended Revolving Credit Facility (as defined in Note 7, “Long-term Debt” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements). We have no debt maturing prior to 2026. As of March 31, 2024 we had conditional obligations under letters of credit issued pursuant to the Amended Credit Facilities with face amounts aggregating to $20.7 million resulting in $979.3 million available borrowing capacity under our Amended Revolving Credit Facility.

Covenants

Our Amended Credit Facilities, 5.625% Notes, and 4.125% Notes require us, among other obligations, to maintain specified financial ratios and to satisfy certain financial tests. In addition, our Amended Credit Facilities, 5.625% Notes, and 4.125% Notes, restrict, among other things, our ability to incur additional indebtedness, incur guarantee obligations, amend debt instruments, pay dividends, create liens on assets, make investments, engage in mergers or consolidations, and otherwise restrict corporate activities. Our debt agreements also contain customary events of default, including cross-default provisions that require us to meet certain requirements under the AR PENN Master Lease, the 2023 Master Lease, and the Pinnacle Master Lease (all of which are defined below), each with GLPI. If we are unable to meet our financial covenants or in the event of a cross-default, it could trigger an acceleration of payment terms.

On February 15, 2024 (the “Amendment Effective Date”), PENN entered into a First Amendment (the “Amendment Agreement”) with its various lenders amending its Amended Credit Facilities (as amended, amended and restated, supplemented, or otherwise modified from time to time prior to the Amendment Effective Date, the “Existing Credit Agreement”). The Amendment Agreement amends the Existing Credit Agreement to provide that, during the period beginning on the Amendment Effective Date and ending on the earlier of (i) the date that is two business days after the date on which the Company delivers a covenant relief period termination notice to the administrative agent and (ii) the date on which the administrative agent receives a compliance certificate for the quarter ending December 31, 2024 (the “Covenant Relief Period”), the Company will make an adjustment to exclude specified amounts of Interactive segment Adjusted EBITDAR (as defined in Note 15, “Segment Information” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements) in its calculations to comply with the maximum total net leverage ratio or minimum interest coverage ratio (as such terms are defined in the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement). We will continue to be required to maintain specified financial ratios and to satisfy certain financial tests when our Covenant Relief Period terminates after December 31, 2024.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company was in compliance with all required financial covenants. The Company believes that it will remain in compliance with all of its required financial covenants for at least the next twelve months following the date of filing this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the SEC.

See Note 7, “Long-term Debt” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information of the Company’s debt and other long-term obligations.

Share Repurchase Authorization

On December 6, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase authorization for $750.0 million (the “December 2022 Authorization”). The December 2022 Authorization expires on December 31, 2025.

The Company utilized the capacity under the previous February 2022 authorization prior to effecting any repurchases under the December 2022 Authorization. Repurchases by the Company are subject to available liquidity, general market and economic conditions, alternate uses for the capital and other factors. Share repurchases may be made from time to time through a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, open market transactions, block trades or in private transactions in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations and other legal requirements. There is no minimum number of shares that the Company is required to repurchase and the repurchase authorization may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice.

No shares of the Company’s common stock were repurchased during the three months ended March 31, 2024. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 1,646,963 shares of its common stock in open market transactions for $50.0 million, at an average price of $30.36 per share under the previous $750.0 million February 2022 authorization.

The cost of all repurchased shares is recorded as “Treasury stock” within our unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets.

No shares of the Company’s common stock were repurchased subsequent to the quarter ended March 31, 2024. As of May 1, 2024, the remaining availability under our December 2022 Authorization was $749.5 million.

Other Factors Affecting Liquidity

ESPN Bet Sportsbook Agreement

On August 8, 2023, PENN entered into the Sportsbook Agreement with ESPN which provides for a long-term strategic relationship between PENN and ESPN relating to online sports betting in the United States. In November 2023, the existing Barstool Sportsbook was rebranded and launched across all online platforms in the United States as ESPN BET, and our online product includes a Hollywood-branded integrated iCasino where permitted. The Sportsbook Agreement has an initial 10-year term and may be extended for an additional ten years upon mutual agreement of PENN and ESPN. In consideration for the media marketing services and brand and other rights provided by ESPN, PENN will pay $150.0 million per year in cash pursuant to the Sportsbook Agreement for the initial 10-year term and issue warrants pursuant to the Investment Agreement (see Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information).

Triple Net Leases

The majority of the real estate assets (i.e., land and buildings) used in our operations are subject to triple net master leases; the most significant of which are the AR PENN Master Lease, 2023 Master Lease, and Pinnacle Master Lease (as such terms are defined in Note 8, “Leases” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, and collectively referred to as the “Master Leases”), with GLPI. We refer to the Master Leases, the Margaritaville Lease, the Greektown Lease, and the Morgantown Lease, collectively, as our “Triple Net Leases”. The Company’s Triple Net Leases are accounted for as either operating leases, finance leases, or financing obligations.

On February 21, 2023, as described in Note 8, “Leases” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company and GLPI entered into the AR PENN Master Lease, effective January 1, 2023, to (i) remove the land and buildings for Aurora, Joliet, Columbus, Toledo and the M Resort, and (ii) make associated adjustments to the rent after which the initial rent in the AR PENN Master Lease was reset to $284.1 million, consisting of $208.2 million of building base rent, $43.0 million of land base rent and $32.9 million of percentage rent (as such terms are defined in the AR PENN Master Lease). The AR PENN Master Lease remains subject to annual rent escalators and a percentage rent reset every five years.

Concurrent with the execution of the AR PENN Master Lease, the Company and GLPI entered into the 2023 Master Lease, effective January 1, 2023, specific to the properties associated with Aurora, Joliet, Columbus, Toledo, M Resort, Meadows, and Perryville and the Master Development Agreement. The 2023 Master Lease terminated the individual triple net leases associated with Meadows and Perryville. The 2023 Master Lease incurs a 1.5% fixed escalator on November 1 each year, and is also subject to a one-time increase of $1.4 million effective November 1, 2027. The 2023 Master Lease and AR PENN Master Lease are cross-defaulted, cross-collateralized, and coterminous, and subject to a parent guarantee.

The 2023 Master Lease includes the 2023 Master Lease Base Rent equal to $232.2 million and the Master Development Agreement contains additional rent (together with the 2023 Master Lease Base Rent, the “2023 Master Lease Rent”) equal to (i) 7.75% of any project funding received by PENN from GLPI for the Aurora Project and (ii) a percentage, based on the then-current GLPI stock price, of any project funding received by PENN from GLPI for the Other Development Projects. The Master Development Agreement provides that GLPI will fund up to $225 million for the Aurora Project and, upon PENN’s request, up to $350 million in the aggregate for the Other Development Projects, in accordance with certain terms and conditions set forth in the Master Development Agreement. These funding obligations of GLPI expire on January 1, 2026. The Aurora Project and the Other Development Projects have all commenced and are anticipated to open in late 2025 to early 2026.

Under our Triple Net Leases, in addition to lease payments for the real estate assets, we are required to pay the following, among other things: (i) all facility maintenance; (ii) all insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties; (iii) taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties (other than taxes on the income of the lessor); (iv) all tenant capital improvements; and (v) all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties. Additionally, our Triple Net Leases are subject to annual escalators and periodic percentage rent resets, as applicable. See Note 8, “Leases” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion and disclosure related to the Company’s leases.

Payments to our REIT Landlords under Triple Net Leases

Total payments made to our REIT Landlords, GLPI and VICI, were as follows:

Outlook

Based on our current level of operations, we believe that cash generated from operations and cash on hand, together with amounts available under our Amended Credit Facilities, will be adequate to meet our anticipated obligations under our Triple Net Leases, debt service requirements, capital expenditures and working capital needs for the foreseeable future. However, our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations will depend on a range of economic, competitive, and business factors, many of which are outside our control. We cannot be certain: (i) of the impact of global supply chain disruptions, price inflation, rising interest rates on the U.S. economy, slowing economic growth, and geopolitical uncertainty; (ii) that our anticipated earnings projections will be realized; (iii) that we will achieve the expected synergies from our acquisitions; (iv) that we will achieve the anticipated financial returns from our Sportsbook Agreement with ESPN; (v) that future borrowings will be available under our Amended Credit Facilities or otherwise will be available in the credit markets to enable us to service our indebtedness or to make anticipated capital expenditures. We caution that the performance and trends seen across our portfolio may not continue. In addition, while we anticipated that a significant amount of our future growth would come through the pursuit of opportunities within other distribution channels, such as media, retail and online sports betting, iCasino, and social gaming; from acquisitions of gaming properties at reasonable valuations; greenfield projects; development projects; and jurisdictional expansions and property expansion in under-penetrated markets; there can be no assurance that this will be the case. If we consummate significant acquisitions in the future or undertake any significant property expansions, our cash requirements may increase significantly and we may need to make additional borrowings or complete equity or debt financings to meet these requirements. See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 for a discussion of additional risks related to the Company’s capital structure.

We have historically maintained a capital structure comprised of a mix of equity and debt financing. We vary our leverage to pursue opportunities in the marketplace in an effort to maximize our enterprise value for our shareholders. We expect to meet our debt obligations as they come due through internally-generated funds from operations and/or refinancing them through the debt or equity markets prior to their maturity.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

A complete discussion of our critical accounting estimates is included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. There have been no significant changes in our critical accounting estimates during thethree months ended March 31, 2024.

RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

For information with respect to new accounting pronouncements and the impact of these pronouncements on our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, see Note 3, “New Accounting Pronouncements” in the notes to our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

IMPORTANT FACTORS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “goal,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” or “anticipates” or the negative or other variations of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties. Specifically, forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the Company’s expectations of future results of operations and financial condition, the assumptions provided regarding the guidance, including the scale and timing of the Company’s product and technology investments; the Company’s expectations regarding results and customer growth, and the impact of competition, in retail/mobile/online sportsbooks, iCasino, social gaming, and retail operations; the Company’s development and launch of its Interactive segment’s products in new jurisdictions and enhancements to existing Interactive segment products, including the content for the ESPN BET and theScore BET Sportsbook and Casino apps and the further development of ESPN BET and theScore BET on our proprietary player account management system and risk and trading platforms; the benefits of the Sportsbook Agreement between the Company and ESPN; the Company’s expectations regarding its Sportsbook Agreement with ESPN and the future success of ESPN BET; the Company’s expectations with respect to the integration and synergies related to the Company’s integration of theScore and the continued growth and monetization of the Company’s media business; the Company’s expectations that its portfolio of assets provides a benefit of geographically-diversified cash flows from operations; the Company’s expectations with respect to the ongoing introduction and the potential benefits of the cashless, cardless and contactless (3C’s) technology; the Company’s plan to expand gaming operations through the implementation and execution of a disciplined capital expenditure program at our existing properties, the pursuit of strategic acquisitions and investments, and the development of new gaming properties, including the anticipated opening in 2026 of development projects at Hollywood Casinos Aurora, Joliet, Columbus, and the M Resort Spa Casino; improvements, expansions, or relocations of our existing properties; entrance into new jurisdictions; expansion of gaming in existing jurisdictions; strategic investments and acquisitions; cross-sell opportunities between our retail gaming, online sports betting, and iCasino businesses; our ability to obtain financing for our development projects on attractive terms; the timing, cost and expected impact of planned capital expenditures on the Company’s results of operations; our expectation that the Company will remain in compliance with all of its required financial covenants for at least the next twelve months following the date of filing this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the SEC; our expectation that, based on our current level of operations, cash generated from operations and cash on hand, together with amounts available under our Amended Credit Facilities, will be adequate to meet our anticipated obligations under our Triple Net Leases, debt service requirements, capital expenditures and working capital needs for the foreseeable future; the actions of regulatory, legislative, executive or judicial decisions at the federal, state, provincial or local level with regard to our business and the impact of any such actions; the anticipated impact of accounting pronouncements; and the Company’s expected payment of $30.5 million in settlement costs in the second quarter of 2024 relating to Barstool SPA indemnification obligations.

Such statements are all subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect the Company’s future financial results and business. Accordingly, the Company cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. Such factors include: the effects of economic and market conditions in the markets in which the Company operates or otherwise, including the impact of global supply chain disruptions, price inflation, rising interest rates, slowing economic growth, and geopolitical uncertainty; competition with other entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming experiences; the timing, cost and expected impact of product and technology investments; risks relating to operations, permits, licenses, financings, approvals and other contingencies in connection with growth in new or existing jurisdictions; the Company may not be able to achieve the anticipated financial returns from the Sportsbook Agreement with ESPN, including due to fees, costs, taxes or circumstances beyond the Company’s or ESPN’s control; the Company may not achieve expected synergies from acquisitions; future borrowings may not be available under our Amended Credit Facilities and capital may not be otherwise available to enable us to service our indebtedness, make anticipated capital expenditures or pay off or refinance our indebtedness prior to maturity; the impact of indemnification obligations under the Barstool SPA; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the right of one or both of the Company and ESPN to terminate the Sportsbook Agreement between the companies; the ability of the Company and ESPN to agree to extend the initial 10-year term of the Sportsbook Agreement on mutually satisfactory terms, if at all, and the costs and obligations of such terms if agreed; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company, ESPN or their respective directors, officers or employees; the ability of the Company or ESPN to retain and hire key personnel; the impact of new or changes in current laws, regulations, rules or other industry standards; and additional risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. Considering these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this Form 10-Q may not occur.